The fifth annual Tobacco Free Florida Week runs from April 6-13. Themed “High Five: Celebrating Five Years of Tobacco Free Florida Week,” it will highlight progress made in protecting Floridians from tobacco’s deadly toll.
Since the inception of the Tobacco Free Florida program, the following milestones have been achieved:
Protecting the People:
- There are more than 500,000 fewer adult smokers in Florida.
- Tobacco Free Florida has helped 72,000 people quit through its 3 Ways to Quit services.
- There are now 70,000 fewer youth smokers.
- There are more than 220,000 fewer youth in Florida exposed to secondhand smoke, which contains a deadly mix of more than 7,000 chemicals, hundreds of which are toxic and 69 that can cause cancer.
Benefitting the State:
- The reduction in smokers has helped save more than $4.2 billion in personal health care costs.
- Twenty colleges and universities in Florida have taken the bold step to enact 100 percent smoke-free campus policies.
- In June 2011, Gov. Rick Scott signed a law amending the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act to give school boards the authority to designate all district property as tobacco free. Currently, all but two (65 total) school districts have implemented tobacco-related policies.
- More than 40 counties and more than 100 cities in the state have passed resolutions urging local vendors to cease the sale and marketing of all candy-flavored tobacco products, which target youth.
To learn about Tobacco Free Florida and the state’s free quit smoking resources, visit their website, or follow the campaign on Facebook or Twitter.
