How to contact tobacco control resources
Yuba County
Contact the Yuba County Tobacco Education Program for local tobacco control resources, please call Project Coordinator Carin Watts at 749-6366.
Sutter County
Community members who are interested in working toward a healthier community are encouraged to join the Healthy and Safe Neighborhoods Coalition (HSNC), dedicated to protecting youth from nicotine addiction. Youth can join Student Advocates for Sutter County (SASC). For more information about tobacco in the community, to join HSNC or SASC, contact Tammy Andersen, project director for the Sutter County Tobacco Control Program, at 822-7215 or email tandersen@ co.sutter.ca.us.
Find the State of Tobacco Control Report at https://center4tobaccopolicy.org/tobacco-money-politics/tobacco-policygrades.
Some strategies they’re working on are to restrict businesses that sell tobacco from being located within a certain distance of schools and parks, adopting smoke-free policies for public housing and healthcare campuses, and prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products, including cigars, chew and electronic cigarettes.
Carin Watts, a health education specialist with the Yuba County Health & Human Services, said the American Lung Association in California established local tobacco control grades in four categories that reflect where local action is needed and where the greatest public health benefit can be derived.
“The low grades issued for Yuba County cities are of course bad news, but not surprising,” Watts said. “Tobacco challenges have always been tough in Yuba County. Rural counties across California continue to have the highest adult and youth smoking prevalence in comparison to urban counties.
She said the tobacco industry has historically and disproportionately targeted rural communities and tobacco retailers in rural communities tend to have the lowest prices and highest prevalence of tobacco promotions and advertising.
“The Yuba County Tobacco Education Program continues to increase community awareness of the dangers of secondhand smoke and aerosol and the need to reduce youth access to tobacco products,” Watts said.
She said there are several strategies the county employs including referring people to Adventist Health’s Clean Break Smoking Cessation classes, providing training for schools and other community agency staff members on teen cessation, building youth and adult coalition capacity, providing training in leadership and advocacy skills to students of Yuba County’s middle and high schools and educating the community about the dangers of exposure to secondhand smoke and aerosol.
In Colusa County, officials say the number of youth who smoke is on the rise, which they attribute to new products on the market, but some health department programs are combating that.
“New and emerging products like electronic cigarettes and flavored tobacco products look safe and mask harsh tobacco flavors, which can make them potentially more appealing and easier to use for youth,” said Amanda Pitts, program director with the Tobacco Education Program. “Our program is focused on raising awareness throughout Colusa County about the dangers of these products and providing parents with information on steps to take to protect their kids.”
Pitts said Colusa County currently has smoke-free parks in the cities of Williams and Colusa as well as the unincorporated region of Arbuckle and they’re working to make improvements.
“While these are strong steps to reduce community exposure to secondhand smoke, we know from talking with the community that not everyone is protected – children are particularly at risk,” she said. “Children’s health can be negatively impacted by secondhand smoke and cause asthma, respiratory infections, and even chronic illnesses later in life. Children are especially susceptible to secondhand smoke when they are not protected from exposure in the home.”
She said the Colusa County Tobacco Education Program is in the process of collecting data from the community to identify where residents would like to add more protections from tobacco use and secondhand smoke.
While the number of F grades continues to steadily decline, half of California’s population lives in communities scoring a D or F.
“Once again, California earned some of the best grades in the country, however the fact remains that more than 9,000 children begin smoking each year in the state while more than 40,000 residents die from smoking related causes,” said Vanessa Marvin, American Lung Association Vice President, Public Policy and Advocacy.