The mission of the Tobacco Use Prevention Program
of the Georgia Department of Human Resources, Division of Public
Health is to coordinate strategy in tobacco use prevention and
control, provide assistance on policy development, and serve as
a resource center for tobacco issues.
Tobacco is the number one preventable cause of
death, killing more Americans each year than alcohol, cocaine,
crack, heroin, homicide, suicide, car accidents, fires, and AIDS
combined. The Program has adopted a national philosophy of changing
environmental factors to reduce tobacco use. The Program provides
project support to the state coalition for tobacco use prevention
and to local programs and coalitions in all 19 Public Health districts.
The program collaborates with the Coalition for
a Healthy and Responsible Georgia (CHARGe), comprising organizations
and people concerned about the tobacco use problem in Georgia.
This coalition serves as a forum for developing and carrying out
strategies that focus on protecting people from secondhand smoke,
preventing tobacco use among youth, and encouraging people who
smoke to quit.
Four primary policy areas that have been shown
to reduce tobacco use are:
- Smoke-free (clean) indoor air -- to protect
health and encourage smokers to quit
- Preventing youth access to tobacco products
-- to stop the easy availability of a product that is illegal
to sell to youths in all 50 states
- Increased tax on tobacco products -- the best
way to keep children from smoking
- Reducing the advertising and promotion of tobacco
products -- to protect kids and others from being the targets
of deadly and addictive products
- The Tobacco Use Prevention Program houses information
on tobacco issues and is connected by computer access to tobacco
prevention programs across the country. Guidelines on each of
the above policy areas, community collaboration, media advocacy,
and other resources are available.
Tobacco Use Prevention Program can provide assistance
and information on nicotine addiction. For help in quitting, call
the American
Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345, the American
Lung Association at 1-800-LUNG-USA, the QUIT line for Georgians
at 1-877-270-STOP, or the Seventh Day Adventist church in your
area.