I would like to congratulate the following facilitators for providing the N-O-T & ATS programs in their schools.

 

 

 

SMOKING CAUSES MEMORY AND COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN ADOLESCENTS

 

Source: Yale U. Office of Public Affairs

Date: 2005-02-01, opa@yale.edu, 203-432-8555

URL: http://www.yale.edu/opa/newsr/05-02-01-01.all.html

ID: 189002

 

Adolescents who smoke show impairment of memory and other cognitive functions, according to a Yale study in Biological Psychiatry.

 

More than 4.5 million teenagers smoke cigarettes in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Census Bureau.

 

Leslie Jacobsen, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, and her research team tested working memory. This form of memory is used when keeping information in mind and manipulating it. They also evaluated verbal learning and memory, attention, mood, symptoms of nicotine withdrawal and tobacco cravings in 41 adolescent daily smokers and 32 nonsmokers. The groups were similar in age, gender and education.

 

"Adolescent smokers were found to have impairments in accuracy of working memory performance," Jacobsen said. Other studies show adult non-smokers and smokers have comparable focused, sustained and selective attention, and improved working memory, suggesting enhancement of performance by nicotine.

 

NEW YORKERS ARE ACCEPTING THE SMOKING BAN

 

*This is a great story passed along by our good friend Danny McGoldrick at Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids...

 

It's from the New York Times on how well the smokefree workplace law is working there.  Even bar owners and smokers are quoted as saying they like it.  It should be used to great effect in educating skeptics that even when there is a huge outcry over these laws, it is typically a vocal minority, and many of them end up changing their minds.

 

**The reporters left out the polling data that show that three-fourths of New Yorkers support the law. (Similar #s of prior WV public polls)

 

Source: AP / New York Times

Date: 2005-02-06

URL for full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/nyregion/06xsmoke.html?oref=login

 

In Barrooms, Smoking Ban Is Less Reviled

By JIM RUTENBERG and LILY KOPPEL

 

Back in 2002, when the City Council was weighing Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's proposal to eliminate smoking from all indoor public places, few opponents were more fiercely outspoken than James McBratney, president of the Staten Island Restaurant and Tavern Association. He frequently ripped Mr. Bloomberg as a billionaire dictator with a prohibitionist streak that would undo small businesses like his bar and his restaurant.

 

Visions of customers streaming to the legally smoke-filled pubs of New Jersey kept him awake at night. Asked last week what he thought of the now two-year-old ban, Mr. McBratney sounded changed. "I have to admit," he said sheepishly, "I've seen no falloff in business in either establishment." He went on to describe what he once considered

unimaginable: Customers actually seem to like it, and so does he.

 

By many predictions, the smoking ban, which went into effect on March 30, 2003, was to be the beginning of the end of the city's reputation as the capital of grit. Its famed nightlife would wither, critics warned, bar and restaurant businesses would sink, tourists would go elsewhere, and the mayor who wrought it all would pay a hefty price in the polls. And then there were those who said that city smokers, a rebellious class if ever there was one, simply would not abide.

 

But a review of city statistics, as well as interviews last week with dozens of bar patrons, workers and owners, found that the ban has not had the crushing effect on New York's economic, cultural and political landscapes predicted by many of its opponents.

 

Employment in restaurants and bars, one indicator of the city's service economy, has risen slightly since the ban went into effect, as has the number of restaurant permits requested and held, according to city records, although those increases could be attributed in part to several factors, including a general improvement in the city's economy.

 

City health inspectors report that 98 percent of bars and restaurants are in compliance with the rules, though some critics question those statistics. Wrath at Mr. Bloomberg, at least pertaining to the smoking ban, seems to be abating.

 

Dr. Frieden credits the apparent success of the new smoking rules here with encouraging other seemingly unlikely places to follow suit, or at least to consider doing so. Among them are Boston, Virginia, Australia, Ireland and Italy. Last week, the City Council in Philadelphia began reviewing a newly proposed bill to make bars and restaurants smoke-free.

 

The councilman who introduced the bill in Philadelphia, Michael A. Nutter, cited New York as an inspiration. "This is kind of the epitome of the song: 'If you can make it there,' " he said in an interview. "What people are saying is, 'If New York can deal with clean-air legislation, why can't we?'

 

 PROGRAM TIPS

 As the new year is here and we are preparing for the second semester I thought this would be a good time to review some of the rules for qualifying for the stipends.

 First you must follow the American Lung Association Professional Standards In Conducting Courses which you signed during the training (Click Here to see a copy)

 1.  Facilitators must complete all program sessions of the NOT/ATS program to receive the stipend. 

 2.  Completed sessions will not be grandfathered. 

 3.  Each school is eligible to receive five $100 stipends for running the ATS program per school year for a maximum of $500 per school. Currently there is no limit for the number of NOT clinics you can run and receive stipends for.

 4.  Simultaneous ATS programs started every other week at the same school will not be endorsed. To be eligible for the stipend the facilitator must complete the series of four sessions prior to commencing a new one.

 5.  To be eligible to earn a stipend there must be at least three students participating in the ATS or NOTclass. The NOT/ATS program requires many group activities. Furthermore, the research for this program was completed with the teens participating in small groups of 5-7. We feel that in order maintain the integrity of the N-O-T/ATS program we must insure the small group dynamics. We believe that by participating in the small group environment youth develop effective communication and caring skills. Small groups provide a sense of security for the teens and lets them know they are not alone in their addiction; it gives them a support network. Small groups further provide an environment to which facilitators can be more effective and productive than they could ever be on a one-to-one basis.

6.  Facilitators must submit the required evaluation forms to receive the stipends.

 Common Errors:

1. Giving the pre and post “What about me” surveys on the same day.

Giving the surveys on the same day does not allow us to assess if the program was helpful to the students.

2. Not insuring the students initialed both surveys

If the students don’t initial the surveys I can’t assess the degree of cessation or reduction.

3. Incomplete packages

 I’ll receive the What about me 2 but not the What about me 1

4. Still using the NOT curriculum as a disciplinary program.

The ATS program has been developed as the disciplinary program. NOT is a volunteer program.

5. Claiming a program with insufficient students

Running a NOT class with only one student. I understand that you 

may only have one or two students that are asking for help. And I

certainly hope you are able to provide one-on-one counseling, you just

can’t call it a NOT class. We also have self help “Power Guides” that the

student can request, if you only have one or two students.