Alaska Tobacco Control Alliance

2011 Tobacco Summit will be in Mat-Su

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 03:40:02 +0000

The 2011 Tobacco Summit will be held in Mat-Su in April, 2011. Join us in promoting a healthy Alaska through reduction of the effects of tobacco. This two-day conference will focus on tobacco prevention and cessation, impacts of secondhand smoke, and preparing communities for change. Participants will learn about the latest research in the field, and share strategies that have proven effective and successful in the fight against tobacco. Summit Chair Becky Stoppa welcomes your ideas and involvement in planning content, local hosting activities, the awards reception or helping get the word out. Read More »

2010 Bridge Builder: Trudy Valenza

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:46:33 +0000

Trudy Dotomain Valenza is the Tobacco Cessation Lead for a larger community partnership group we have in Seward, currently named Seward Wellness for All. The mission of the Wellness for All group is to enhance and promote wellness for Seward through Community partnerships. Trudy has brought many opportunities and support to the group, created a brochure regarding public businesses that are smoke free for the community, worked in partnership with Providence Seward Medical and Care Center Providers to provide cessation education to local students, and will be forging a policies campaign in Seward in collaboration with city government.

2010 Community Backbone: Joyanne Bloom

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:46:20 +0000

Joyanne Bloom is Alaska’s “Capital Advocate” for tobacco control. She cofounded the Juneau Tobacco Prevention Network 16 years ago and started Juneau’s first Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU) that same year. Joyanne originated “Pink Lung Awards”, walked the halls of our Legislature with “Mr. Butts”, testified before the Legislature and our local Assembly numerous times, and organized others to testify especially TATU students. She has also organized: rallies on our capitol steps; a fun run chasing Joe Camel out of town; stings for selling tobacco to teens; parade floats “blowing bubbles not smoke” and smoking camels the Alaskan way – on a rack over a fire! She has been active in legislative initiatives on State and local levels including:

Securing State Tobacco Settlement Funds for tobacco control
Keeping tobacco out of the reach of children by addressing product placement
Increasing the State and local tobacco taxes
Serving on the Juneau Mayors Task Force on Clean Indoor Air helping pass several stages of Juneau’s clean indoor air law.
Serving as an active and dedicated member of the Juneau Clean Air Coalition.

2010 Policy Defender: Cynthia C. Drinkwater

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:45:25 +0000

Cynthia is an assistant attorney general for the State of Alaska. For the last decade she has been the sole attorney supporting tobacco enforcement and tobacco licensing. Cynthia has represented the State in both criminal and civil tobacco cases. She has testified in front of the State legislature supporting stronger tobacco laws. Cynthia won an Alaska Supreme Court case holding the business liable for the actions of their employees or agents. She has worked tirelessly behind the scenes and is especially deserving of this award.

2010 School System Partner in Change: Doris Cannon, Kenai Peninsula Borough School District

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:45:12 +0000

At last year’s AK TAI Summit, teens from the Kenai Peninsula, as well as from around the state, identified a need that they wanted their school districts to address. Specifically, that students caught using tobacco products should be provided an educational unit that would enlighten them to the dangers of tobacco use and move them toward a desire to quit using tobacco rather than just suspending them from school. In pursuit of this goal, students met with Kenai Peninsula School District administration to gain their support. Doris Cannon was at that meeting and identified with the concerns that Kayla Shultz presented on behalf of the Ak TAI teens. Through Ms. Cannon’s efforts, the process began to provide training which gives schools the ability to implement a program that can be utilized as an alternative to out of school suspension for tobacco use! Thank you Ms. Cannon!

2010 Community Connector: Tom Okleasik

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:44:58 +0000

Five years ago as the community grant coordinator in Nome, Tom developed a strong tobacco prevention message and carefully built a network of advocates who helped him celebrate smokefree workplaces. Several years later, when he moved, most of Nome’s restaurants had gone voluntarily smokefree. Once In Kotzebue, Tom volunteered and joined the Northwest Tobacco Coalition. His non-confrontational supportive energy continues to help him develop relationships with local partners. Tom is a teacher who has led by example and has generously and gently taught the tobacco prevention community what he has learned about building connections in the rural north.

2010 Tobacco Free Marathon Award: Jane Weagant, RN

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:44:30 +0000

Former SEARHC Health Educator and current SEARHC nurse Jane Weagant spent three years in Haines doing tobacco cessation, community education and media on the dangers of secondhand smoke. Her love of sharing information helped build a foundation of knowledge in the community. With this knowledge, the majority of businesses in Haines voluntarily became smoke-free including one bar. She worked hand in hand with the Haines Partnership for Healthy Living to further move the borough assembly to pass a comprehensive clean indoor air ordinance that was sent to the voters for ratification. In October 2009, the citizen’s of Haines passed the ordinance and it went into effect January 11, 2010. Her dedication and passion helped move the community forward to embrace the need to protect everyone from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

2010 Youth 2 Youth 4 Change: POWER (Peer Outreach Worker Education and Referrals)

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:44:16 +0000

POWER (Peer Outreach Worker Education and Referral Program) from Anchorage, hires teens to do outreach to homeless teens. They run a clinic in downtown that provides information on a variety of health issues. POWER is just about to complete its second year with AkTAI. Before joining AkTAI they did not include tobacco control as part of their message. Now they are! We are pleased to recognized POWERfor doing work with an “at-risk” population. This group runs on a very tiny budget. The ALA office recently gave them plain copier paper, and the coordinator was nearly in tears, and said she couldn’t remember the last time they printed anything on white paper that didn’t have something on the other side. Talk about pinching pennies!

2010 Community Backbone: John Parker

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:43:52 +0000

As a business and property owner in Kenai, local folks know John Parker. So when John met with Kenai City Council members on the need for a comprehensive smokefree workplace policy for the city of Kenai, they listened. Armed with his personal story of his nonsmoking wife contracting lung disease from working with a smoker, John worked with the council, other elected officials, and Peninsula Smokefree Partnership to educate both the public and policymakers on the dangers of secondhand smoke and the need for legislation that protects both workers and business patrons. In addition to giving public testimony at city council meetings and recording radio ads on the dangers of secondhand smoke, John stood strong in the face of opposition and remained clear and firm on the message that “everyone has the right to breathe clean air.”

2010 Immutable Advocate: Hal Smalley

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:43:23 +0000

Over the past three years, Hal Smalley, Kenai City Councilman, Kenai Peninsula Borough Assemblyman, and all around great guy, has worked tirelessly, and in the face of occasional opposition, to make the Kenai peninsula a more healthy place to call home. In 2008, he worked with Peninsula Smokefree Partnership, the ALA and the ACS to draft ordinance language protecting all workers in the city of Kenai from the dangers of secondhand smoke in the workplace. As a policymaker, he opened the council and assembly chambers to our Teens Against Tobacco Use youth group, as they presented their message on the need for tobacco prevention in our cities. Hal’s strong and consistent stand on the issue, even when confronted

with the oppositions’ arguments, was an invaluable tool in educating both policymakers and the public on the dangers of tobacco and secondhand smoke.