Feast of Tobacco Fact Digestible Research by Patricia Nichols, M.A.

Background Long term contributor to list serve for the Montana Tobacco Prevention Program Background in applied research; community interventions aimed at disruption of addiction norm. Technical assistant for community programs Former caterer: ‘Need to Feed’ is hard-wired

Research as intervention Community programs thrive on perception of truth sharing Tobacco use prevention can become boring and repetitive without an infusion of what’s new – Keeps education current Most people believe they KNOW about tobacco. Dislodging those artifacts often takes acquiring prized information

List Serv for Info Distribution through an list of interested parties [electronic mailing list] Know who is on your list serve or who isn’t Be respectful of the attention you take Validate what you send into someone else’s space

Establish the experts in your field Tobacco Use Prevention is no longer a “new” field; there are experts! Provides expectations upon which to gauge new information Useful Primary Resources for Tobacco Tobacco, Biology, and Politics – Stanton Glantz, Ph. D. Smokeless Tobacco, A Deadly Addiction Herbert Severson, Ph. D.

Follow general rules of research Provide citations as appropriate Utilize journal citations and authors Provide full references for other periodicals such as newspapers and magazines; do not strip away the date! Give credit to contributors If you don’t have the citations, don’t pass it on until you do!

As a list serv contributor Accept the responsibility for presenting data Follow up erroneous posts Anticipate that others will use the posts Limit the use of your own opinion when posting

Looking for truth Public generally will trust information in print. Critical thinking skills need to be applied. Provide balance in discussions – stay objective - rather than inflaming an emotional defense

Beware the appearance of authority It is helpful to recognize authoritative banter (in this case disguised as history lesson) to validate a news/marketing discussion. For almost two centuries, snus was not very popular with the establishment. A gentleman smoked his tobacco. It was not until the late 1960s, with an increasing awareness of the dangers of smoking, that snus slowly began to be considered an acceptable alternative - and not until the early 1990s that it would become completely accepted. Now snus use is more common than cigarette smoking among Swedish men, 22% vs. 14% in Found on

Trustable resources  Globalink.org – registry requires statement of competing interest if one exists.  Tobacco.org  JoinTogether.org  + Sourcewatch.org - provides background on individuals or organizations

Flaws in news reporting  Quotes may only represent one side of a controversy  Quotes [deemed informed opinion] may be politically motivated rather than scientifically based  Source of news may have an unchallenged background; watch for science contributors with a link to Tobacco Industry Funding and Research – Consider the source

Other places for news?  Google News- set up GOOGLE ALERT for “smokeless”  Yahoo News – Health news  AP releases  Reuters releases  Major Newspapers  Trade Journals

Circulate PR releases  Provide news about tobacco industry new products  Inform  about new products and advertising strategy  about collaboration between industry giants  About test markets  Provides preparation for community impact

Industry news can be “news” Philip Morris Plans Mini Cigarettes for Smoking Breaks February 5, 2008 News Summary from Jointogether.org Smokers who must go outdoors to grab a quick nicotine fix are the target for Philip Morris' newest product, a mini cigarette designed to give a full dose of the drug but in a shorter period of time, the Daily Mail Reported Feb. 3. Normal cigarettes are typically 8.5 centimeters long; the new Philip Morris mini- cigarettes will be 7.2 centimeters, but still have as much nicotine as a full-sized cigarette. The company reportedly plans to test-market the cigarettes in Turkey. “The desperation of the smokers knows no limits; it’s only matched by the desperation in Philip Morris trying to corner the market,” said Stephen Pound, a member of the British Parliament who quit smoking after indoor-smoking bans went into effect in the U.K.

Community uses News items make dandy filler for Community Coalition Newsletters Current news is useful in presentations; grounds the public in the current status Assists community representative in fielding questions about publicized new products, legislation or other related matters

Community uses Provides a current context for public health letters to the editor or other health department feature articles on tobacco or health. May provide more effective education for policymakers than simply statistical data Energizes community work in the interim between formal tobacco education via conference or trainings.

Patricia Nichols An Ounce of Prevention LLC