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In addition to two PTM staff, there wasother representation at the conferencefrom Maine including local coalitionmembers, District TobaccoCoordinators, and State Partners. Thiswas a great opportunity to hear fromand exchange ideas with some of theworld’s most innovative andexperienced experts in tobaccoprevention and cessation atthe local, state, national, andinternational levels.

The conference is an oppor-tunity to hear about the latestdata and research in tobaccoprevention and control as well aspromising new practices. Maine dele-gates chose from workshop sessions on:

• nicotine and the science of addiction• youth prevention• cessation• surveillance and evaluation• tobacco control policies• communications and media

• increasing diversity/eliminating disparities

• tobacco industry• legal issues• non-cigarette tobacco and nicotine

products• international tobacco control

During the conference, PTM provided aposter session highlighting the successMaine has had in practical application

PTM Forms The Breathe EasyCoalition of Maine

The Partnership For A Tobacco-FreeMaine has created a new “umbrellacoalition” that is combining the scopeand direction of the work of theSmoke-Free Housing Coalition ofMaine with the work to date of theMaine Tobacco-Free College Networkand the Maine Tobacco-Free HospitalNetwork. This integrated program toaddress secondhand smoke is based

Summer ISSUE 2009

WHAT’S INSIDENew HelpLine Video Now Online . . . . .2Kudos to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4New FDA Regulation Puts the Brakes on Flavored Products . . . . . . . . .4Unleash Your C Freakster Tour . . . . . . .5Hello & Goodbye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Young Adult Events Take Shape inPortland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Relaxation Tools Help Others to Quit . . .6New PTM Materials Available . . . . . . . .7Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Web Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

2009 National Conference on Tobacco or Health

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PTM’s cooperative agreement with the national Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC) requires that program staff attendthe national tobacco conference and provides the funds for travel.

H O U S I N Gw w w . s m o k e f r e e f o r m e . o r g

of state and national expertise andresources to the development of ourhealth communication evaluation.PTM’s Program Manager, DoreanMaines, along with PTM evaluatorsMarco Andrade, PhD, from the MaineCenter for Public Health, and RebeccaMurphy-Hoefer, PhD, MPH compiledand shared the methods and results.

The MaineHealth Center for TobaccoIndependence (CTI) presented a posteron “Changes in Nursing Students’Opinions about Treating Tobacco AfterBasic Skills Training.” The study

assessed change in opinions related tothe students’ perceived role, their feel-ings of preparedness and self confi-dence in treating patients’ tobacco usebefore and after training in conductinga basic intervention for tobacco use.

During the conference, the FDA legisla-tion to regulate the manufacturing,marketing and sale of tobacco prod-ucts passed. It was exciting to be in alarge plenary session with hundreds offellow tobacco prevention and controladvocates to share this momentousevent. The long overdue regulation of

tobacco products is an enormousachievement for America’s health.

Also during the conference, a newreport from the Robert Wood JohnsonFoundation, “Cigarette SmokingPrevalence and Policies in the 50States: An Era of Change,” was dis-tributed. The report was prepared bythe Departments of Health Behaviorat the University at Buffalo School ofPublic Health and Health Professionsand the Roswell Park Cancer Institute.The report is an excellent source ofcomparison with other states.Unfortunately, the book was compiledbefore Maine’s new secondhandsmoke laws were passed. In the book,Maine appears with rather mediocreratings compared to other states onsecondhand smoke, whereas Maine’snew laws will now help us rank in thehighest categories. Maine’s highlightspage in the book reminds us that our young adult rates are still high,smokers are less apt to have smoke-free homes, and cigarette sales havedropped as prices have gone up.These statistics show us where ourpriorities need to be. Pages 94-97describe and illustrate smoking andquitting by socioeconomic differences.For example, among those at/abovethe poverty line, 50.2% are formersmokers while only 30.9% of thosebelow the poverty line are formersmokers. More people who are welleducated have quit, and people tendto quit when they are older.

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New HelpLine Video Now OnlineThe new “What Happens When You Call” HelpLine video is now on PTM’s websitewww.tobaccofreemaine.org/quit_tobacco/Maine_Tobacco_HelpLine.php (link islocated at the bottom of the page). The 9-minute video simulates what happenswhen a caller contacts the HelpLine for help quitting tobacco. It explains how thetobacco specialist asks if the caller is ready to quit, helps them to create a quit

plan if they are ready, and schedulefollow up calls. The video also discusses many of the services thatcan be provided by calling theHelpLine. It’s free, confidential andit really works.

All the data points in the chart book are available at:

http://impacteen.org/tobaccodata.htm.

The chart book itself is available online at:http://www.impacteen.org/chartbooks.htm.

2009 National Conference on Tobacco or Health Continued from page 1

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on SMART objectives that complementMaine’s strong public-place and work-place laws.

By establishing and main-taining a comprehensive,evidence-based voluntarypolicy development initiative,PTM can increase statewidecapacity to reduce and elim-inate secondhand smokeexposure in Maine’s multi-unit housing, health caresystems and institutions ofpostsecondary education.

Staffed by a team experienced in thesuccessful implementation of strategicand focused smoke-free policy change,and with strong PTM support, theBreathe Easy Coalition (BEC) has as itsmission to “Reduce exposure to sec-ondhand smoke through the promo-tion of strong voluntary policies thatlead to reduced tobacco use and sup-port tobacco-free living throughoutMaine.” Its vision is “A state where allcan live free from involuntary exposureto secondhand smoke.”

An Executive Committee and anAdvisory Council have already beenassembled to guide the work and tobuild capacity. The Breathe EasyCoalition will be organized around astreamlined meeting schedule that

respects the busy lives of those whohad been involved in three separatemeetings and initiatives in the past.

The BEC will focus its efforts onaddressing the needs of populationswith identified patterns of high use andexposure to tobacco; for example, inhousing, BEC will continue its workwith public housing authorities; withinhealth care, BEC will seek to includeFederally Qualified Health Centers, andin educational institutions, BEC willfocus on community colleges, skill-based educational institutions as wellas Maine’s major colleges.

Its progress will be tracked through sur-veys, policies as they are developed andstrengthened, and event evaluations. Itwill be celebrated by annual recognitionevents and by progress notes for devel-oping each of the individual websites for each partnering effort. Current sitesare www.smokefreeforme.org andwww.mainetobaccofreecollegenet-work.org while a site is currently underdevelopment for the Maine Tobacco-Free Hospital efforts.

The American Cancer Society devel-

oped the initial concepts and the sevenguiding standards for the CollegeNetwork as part of its Smoke-Free New England effort starting in 2001.

The standards-based modelserved as the template forthe development of theseven guiding standards forthe College Network.

Annual award ceremonies have beenheld continuously by the MaineTobacco Free Hospital Network in con-junction with the American CancerSociety Great American Smokeout inNovember of each year.

The current economy has affected usall including the budgets of our strongpartnering voluntary organizations andallies. In recognition of the new realitiesthat exist, PTM has determined that wemust continue to provide support tothis overall effort, and have enteredinto a contract with the City of Portland(which has long served as the lead forthe Smoke-Free Housing Coalition),funded through our current federalCDC cooperative agreement.

H

PTM Forms The Breathe Easy Coalition of Maine Continued from page 1

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Kudos to…Bangor Region Public Health andWellness for the role that they played inencouraging the leadership of the 2009American Folk Festival to actively promoteit as a smoke-free event. Starting with aninformational insert in the Bangor Daily News, a theme of“Smoke Free, Please” encouraged attendees to enjoy theFolk Festival even more this year by volunteering to keepthe air smoke-free and further encouraged the change bysuggesting that everyone there “let the festival air carry the sound of great music without the smoke.” Musicannouncers thanked festival attendees for not smoking and signs distributed throughout the festival spread themessage, “Help everyone breathe easy, Thank You for not smoking,” which reinforced the theme and furtherencouraged voluntary compliance. Nice job, Bangor!

Martha Bell, District Tobacco Coordinator (DTC)for Healthy Aroostook. She was able to work with ChrisBeaulieu, the Director of the Presque Isle Recreation andParks Department, to create a tobacco-free policy for all ofthe Presque Isle Recreation and Parks areas. It’s great to seemore towns and outdoor spaces becoming tobacco-free, andthanks to the hard work of our DTC’s, we hope to see manymore in the future. Great work, Martha!

Healthy Androscoggin for a policy researched and written bya Healthy Androscoggin youth group at Auburn Middle School.Following the state’s lead of not allowing smoking in stateparks and beaches, the Androscoggin Land Trust will now be

asking anyone using their land not to smoke.Nicely done!

District Tobacco Coordinator TobySimon, in collaboration with theCumberland County HMPs and the LBGT

Health Advisory group, for the launch of the new websiteHowUR.org at the Southern Maine Pride Festival in June2009. HowUR.org addresses a variety of health topics affecting the LGBT community, including the high incidenceof tobacco and alcohol abuse among the young adult LGBTpopulation. It offers education, tools and resources for visitors,including information on how to avoid being a target of tobacco and alcohol advertising industries. A tobacco table

with information specifically for the LBGT community wasalso well received and appreciated at the festival.

Nancy Demings and her husband, who have bothquit smoking as a direct result of the American Legacy

Foundation play, “Lucky or Dead,” which was produced usingthe principles of the truth® campaign. Nancy, the director ofthe play, had smoked for 11 years, while her husband hadsmoked for 46. They both noticed that they were experiencingthe smoking facts that were being put into the play. Neither ofthem ever thought that they could quit because they thoughtit would be too hard and it was just too late. They both quitcold turkey, together. Nancy believes that the key to their success is that they did it together and now they both feel likethey will never start smoking again. Congratulations to Nancyand her husband!

New FDA Regulation Puts the Brakes on Flavored Products The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act was signed into law by President Obama on June 22, 2009, giving the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products. The Act amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA),giving the FDA authority to regulate the manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco products. There will be majoreffects due to the legislation. All candy, spice and fruit-flavored cigarettes will be banned. Only the flavor menthol will beallowed. It will be a requirement that larger and more graphic warnings cover 50% of cigarette and smokeless tobaccopackages on both sides. Another effect of the law will be to apply specific restrictions of tobacco marketing and sales toyouth. Examples include: a ban on remaining tobacco-brand sponsorships of sports and entertainment events and limitedadvertising in publications with a significant teen readership.

For more information visit: http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0352.pdf and http://tclconline.org/documents/federal-regulation-tobacco-summary.pdf

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Unleash Your CFreakster TourUnleashedTo support the initial websitelaunch in late spring, theUnleash Your C Freakstertour traveled to all corners of Maine to promote theUYC brand.

During the six-week tour, the UYCteam successfully interacted withover 800 teens, representing everycounty in the state. The street teammembers built up a high level of trustwith the teens, yielding empoweringconversations and fostering emotionalconnections to the UYC brand.Regardless of gender, location, sexualorientation, or income level,

teenagers were able to express them-selves openly with the street team.

Recognition of both the UYC commer-cial “Changing Colors” (produced byMarshwood High School teens) and thedestination website grew as the tourprogressed. Armed with the ability andknowledge of how to make healthychoices, the teenagers affected by UYCwill be well equipped with tools to sup-port them in future decision making as

well as the continued contact with thestreet team through social networkingwebsites and periodic email blasts.

This summer UYC has been conduct-ing the “How You C It” video compe-tition (go to www.howyoucit.com formore details). The UYC team is currently planning for the fall tour inwhich they will visit local fairs acrossthe state and feature “The Tent ofDestiny.”Stay tuned for more info.

HELLO GOODBYE&PTM welcomes two new members to the teamGarth Smith is a new PTM Public Health Educator. His edu-cational background is in Sports Medicine and HealthScience. His interests include working with the sports,recreational, and young adult populations, as well as socialmarketing. He has spent the past nine years with Shaw’sSupermarkets, most recently serving in retail management.

Margaret O’Connor is the new PTM Office Assistant. Herbackground is in education and finance. She has more thanten years of banking experience, which includes severalyears as an operations officer at Key Bank. She alsoworked in the Augusta School Department for more thansix years, most recently in the Central Office. Margaret is

a life long resident of the City of Augusta, and has servedon several municipal boards and committees. She has alsoserved on the Boards of Big Brothers/Big Sisters ofKennebec Valley and the Augusta Food Bank. Margaret isparticularly interested in the education and well being ofyoung people, and she appreciates the role that PTM playsin the lives of the children in Maine.

It’s time to bid Marco Andrade AdieuMarco, the leader of the evaluation team for PTM, has moved toRhode Island to be with his family. Marco’s team is still workingon evaluation for PTM and a new Team Leader will be hired toguide the team. He will be sorely missed, we wish him well andwe thank him for all his hard work. Farewell Marco!

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Quittingsmoking wasnot an easytask. But, with theassistance of theMaine TobaccoHelpLine andother tools, it hasnow been 4 yearssince I quit. One day, I picked up thephone and called the HelpLine. Theysent me a package of pamphlets andeven included a tea bag to encourageme to sit and relax. When I felt the urge to have a cigarette—usually when I would get stressed—I would listen tomeditation music that I had down-loaded to my MP3 player. I found themusic to be very helpful. I soon realizedthat there were other ways of controllingmy stress and it was good to take timefor myself to relax.

Working at the WIC office, I see a lot ofyoung people who smoke. I am reallyproud to tell my story to my clients. Itell them how old I was when I startedand how many years I smoked for. Ialso share with them the tools thathelped me to quit. I tell them abouthow wonderful the HelpLine is, and I amalways handing out brochures for themto learn more about it. For those thathave stress in their lives, I have madeCDs of my meditation music and a fewhave quit because of it. I cannot tell youhow it makes me feel when they tell methat my support has made a differencein their lives. Thank you to the HelpLinefor helping me to help others!

Relaxation Tools Help Others to QuitBy Pat Doustout

One of the four goals in doing so is identifying and eliminating tobacco-related disparities among population groups. We contracted a pilot project with Rescue

Social Change Group (RSCG) in December 2007to better understand the relationship betweenidentity and young adult/LGBT tobacco use inMaine. RSCG utilized their Social Branding®concept to investigate the behavior of tobaccouse itself, specifically in Maine. The study alsofocused on local young adult culture and its

relationship with tobacco use. This includesunderstanding which sub-cultures are most prevalentand how tobacco use is perceived by them.

The concept of social market-ing is not new; it has beenaround for decades. SocialBranding® was developed in2003 to incorporate behavioralscience with commercialbranding strategies similar tothose utilized by the tobaccoindustry. It is a model for community-level young adult

tobacco prevention. Unlike traditional healthpromotion, Social Branding® focuses on sub-cultures and the subconscious attitudes thatlead young adults to smoke. Interventions occurat social and cultural events, such as musicshows and clubs.

RSCG assessed the youth of Maine in Portlandvenues. Their brands Verge, for the LGBT population, and HAVOC, for what theyidentified the Partier population, work to associate the idealized image of the sub-culture with a tobacco-free lifestyle. The interventions are not for everyone, nor arethey meant to be; they are meant to reach these subcultures whose prevalence oftobacco use is high. We will evaluate the results of this pilot project to determinefeasibility of future projects.

The Partnership For A Tobacco-Free Maine is committed to utilizingbest practice guidelines for comprehensive tobacco control programs.

Young Adult Events Take Shape in Portland

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Searching for the latest data?Check out these helpful links:For the toll of the cost in lives and medical costs from tobacco use in Maine: http://tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements/toll.php?StateID=MESee also section on research and facts.

For county or regional youth data: http://www.maine.gov/maineosa/survey

For other Maine and national data from YRBSS: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/yrbss

For other Maine and national data from BRFSS: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss

For the most recent facts on tobacco use in the state of Maine, visit http://www.tobaccofreemaine.org/explore_facts/Maine_facts_and_stats.php

WebLINKS

There are two new PTM quit brochures that have been

revised and will be available on the PTM online ordering

system (ptmstore.org) soon. The Women’s

brochure was created just for women and

is meant to support women’s needs by

understanding that tobacco treats men

and women differently. The overall

message is to let women know that there

is support and they should call the

HelpLine for assistance. The second

brochure is the Youth Cigar brochure

aimed at educating youth about the

dangers of cigars and natural tobacco

products, urging them to call the Youth

HelpLine number (1-800-NEW-CHOICE)

for free help.

New PTM MaterialsAvailable

Tobacco Intervention: Basic Skills TrainingGo to http://www.tobaccofreemaine.org/

basic_skills to register and complete part one, theonline portion of the training. Part two, the in-

person trainings, are being conducted throughoutMaine starting in September. The full schedule

is available online.

November 9 & 1026th Annual Peer Leadership Conference

Augusta Civic CenterGo to www.myan.org to register.

November 10 & 116th Annual Maine Anti-Tobacco Youth Summit

Augusta Civic CenterGo to www.myan.org to register.

Dorean MainesProgram ManagerEmail: dorean.e.maines@maine.gov Phone: (207) 287-3268

Carol ColesPublic Health Educator Secondhand Smoke: All Settings, Including Public

Places and Worksites; Tobacco-Related Disparities: Analysis, Capacity Enhancement, Programming

Email: carol.r.coles@maine.gov Phone: (207) 287-4626

Margaret O’ConnorOffice AssistantEmail: margaret.o’connor@maine.govPhone: (207) 287-4629

Becky PearcePublic Health EducatorEmail: rebecca.pearce@maine.govPhone: (207) 287-6027

Catherine RamaikaPublic Health Educator Women and Smoking, Tobacco Industry Tactics, and

Cessation/Treatment Email: catherine.a.ramaika@maine.govPhone: (207) 287-4628

Michelle C. RossPublic Health EducatorPrevention: Youth Prevention, Tobacco-Free Policies,

and Star StoreEmail: michelle.ross@maine.govPhone: (207) 287-5762

Garth SmithPublic Health EducatorEmail: garth.smith@maine.govPhone: (207) 287-4625

Ellie SparksOffice AssociateEmail: ellie.sparks@maine.gov Phone: (207) 287-9634

PRESORTFIRST-CLASS

U.S. POSTAGEPAID

Permit #492Portland, ME

Printed under appropriation #014-10A-9922-022The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) does not discriminate

on the basis of disability, race, color, creed, gender, age, sexual orientation, or national origin, in admission to, access to or operation of itsprograms, services, activities or its hiring or employment practices. This

notice is provided as required by Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Actof 1990 and in accordance with the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 as amended,

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, the AgeDiscrimination Act of 1975, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 andthe Maine Human Rights Act. Questions, concerns, complaints, or requests

for additional information regarding civil rights may be forwarded to the DHHS’ ADA Compliance/EEO Coordinator, State House

Station #11, Augusta, Maine 04333, 207-287-4289 (V) or 207-287-3488 (V),TTY: 800-606-0215. Individuals who need auxiliary aids for effective communi-cation in programs and services of DHHS are invited to make their needs and

preferences known to the ADA Compliance/EEO Coordinator. This notice isavailable in alternate formats, upon request.

11 State House StationAugusta, ME 04333-0011

Phone: 207-287-4627www.tobaccofreemaine.org

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Partnership For A Tobacco-Free Maine (PTM) Staff:

The Link is published by the Partnership For ATobacco-Free Maine (PTM).The mission of PTM is to reduce death and disabilityfrom tobacco use among Maine residents by creatingan environment supportive of a tobacco-free life.