The Florida Legislature has made a number of important steps to make our state smoke-free. In 2003, a constitutional amendment to ban smoking in enclosed indoor workplaces - including restaurants - went into effect. However, enacting a law that makes it difficult for smokers to light up in public is only half the battle. ...more

May 24, 2008

You may have seen the public service commercial. A woman brings her young daughter out to the car and straps her into a car seat. The announcer reminds us that 37,000 Americans are killed every year in automobile accidents, which made me think it was sponsored by the National Safety Council or a seat-belt advocacy group. ...more

May 18, 2008

SEBRING — About 400 middle and high school students met regularly to plan activities on spreading the word about the dangers of tobacco and smoking. That was five years ago before a funding cut in 2003 severely curtailed, or at some schools ended the Students Working Against Tobacco (S.W.A.T.) program. With a federal grant to fund it, the Highlands County Health Department proposes to reinstitute the program in the county's high schools. Active S.W.A.T. membership in the county has dropped 70.8 percent since the year 2000, according Donna Noel Stayton, Health Department tobacco prevention specialist. About 28.1 percent of the high school students in Highlands County reported using tobacco within the last 30 days of taking the 2006 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey . ...more

January 22, 2008