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Advancing Tobacco Free Communities

The Advancing Tobacco-Free Communities (ATFC) grant works to support and promote tobacco-free environments anywhere Hamilton, Fulton and Montgomery County residents live, work and play.  This program combines the Reality Check (youth) and Community Engagement (coalition-based work) components under one umbrella to achieve common disease prevention goals as they relate to tobacco.

Since 2002, in New York State:

  • The high school youth smoking rate decreased by 53% from 2000-2011
  • The middle school youth smoking rate decreased by 69%
    from 2000-2010
  • The adult smoking rate decreased by 13% from 2003-2011

 

 




And yet, the tobacco industry still spends more than $220 million annually to market their deadly products in New York State.  As a result, far too many of our youth still smoke and many more are vulnerable.

Advancing Tobacco-Free Communities Coordinators educate and mobilize community members and organizations of Hamilton, Fulton and Montgomery Counties to strengthen both organizational and municipal tobacco-related policies.  These policies aim to prevent and reduce tobacco use, minimize the impact of harmful tobacco retail marketing on youth, limit exposure to secondhand smoke and decrease smoking imagery in the media. ATFC focuses on the prevention and reduction of tobacco use by establishing and reinforcing a tobacco-free community norm through tobacco-free outdoor air and housing policies and by reducing the exposure and impact of tobacco on youth.  Our local program is working to meet the following goals:

1. Eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke
2. Decrease the social acceptability of tobacco use
3. Prevent the initiation of tobacco use among and young adults 

Members Our program is continually expanding its membership to best represent the broad interests of a variety of community stakeholders. If you are interested in taking action, visit www.tobaccofreenys.org or www.seenenoughtobacco.org.

Contact Denise Benton at (518) 842-4202  x3172.
See more at: http://www.tobaccofreenys.org.

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