Nicotine/Substance Abuse Resources

Adults:

Quitline Iowa

Become an Ex

Youth:

My Life My Quit (or text Start My Quit to 36072)

The Truth Initiative (or text DITCHVAPE to 88709)

Children imitate adult behaviors.  How do children learn to walk? To talk? To play sports? From adults! When children see adults smoking in family-friendly places such as parks and playgrounds, they see the behavior as acceptable. Parks are about clean air, natural beauty, and engaging in healthy activities. Smoking just doesn’t fit in.

If you are an employer without a smoke-free worksite policy, contact Penny McCaslin at CG Public Health today to get started.

If you already have a smoke-free worksite policy but it does not include vaping or e-cigarette products, consider updating your policy to include these forms of nicotine as well.

Vaping pervades the workplace with more than three-fourths (76%) of e-cigarette users vaping at work, triggering the urge to smoke and vape in nearly half of tobacco users.  Support for e-cigarette-free workplaces is high, from e-cigarette users themselves as well as most of the workforce.  Nearly half of tobacco users reported workplace vaping as a trigger for smoking and vaping.  These findings suggest that vaping in the workplace might undermine the efforts of those trying to quit and even in those who have already done so.

If you’re ready to add vaping to your workplace tobacco-free policy, you can get started with the tips and steps below from The EX Program blog, which also appeared on Talent Culture.

• Make your workplace policy comprehensive
  Start by ensuring that your no-smoking-at-work policy prevents exposure to secondhand smoke for all your employees, whether they work indoors or outdoors. Take a look at the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation for a model policy that’s easy to follow.
• Know your state and local laws
  E-cigarettes are regulated at state and local levels, and it’s helpful to know where your state and municipality might stand. The American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation has maps with information specific to your company’s location.
• Handle smoking and vaping consistently
  Your policy should be clearly written and understandable, articulating the same terms for enforcement for e-cigarette users and other types of tobacco users as for cigarette smokers.
• Communicate the new policy with employees
  Once your newly revised policy is developed, share it with employees in many different shapes and forms to meet your employees where they are: intranet posts, manager talking points and company-wide meetings, for example. It can take multiple attempts for employees to become aware of and comprehend messages from HR teams.

Parents Against Vaping

Parent Tip Sheet

Cigarettes and Youth: What Parents Need to Know

Quitline Iowa for Healthcare Providers

Information from the Surgeon General

Self-Made Health Network Smoking and Poverty Fact Sheet