Tobacco Education and Prevention Coalition

Our Mission is to promote tobacco control initiatives to prevent and reduce tobacco use through education for the citizens of Porter County. 

We envision a Porter County where all community members are free of tobacco and secondhand smoke regardless of where they live, learn, work, and play.

• Decrease Porter County youth tobacco use rates
• Decrease the proportion of Porter County citizens exposed to secondhand smoke
• Decrease Porter County adult smoking rates

The Tobacco Education and Prevention Coalition for Porter County offers tobacco prevention and cessation educational programs and services with an emphasis on:

Middle and High School Students, Employees, and Parents 

• Trainings and informational sessions for students, staff and parents.

Support Community Efforts

• To counter tobacco point-of-sale strategies.

Tobacco-Free Worksites for Employers and Employees

• Support employers to create a healthier workforce by providing employer-sponsored cessation resources to their employees.
• Support community efforts to protect the community from exposures to secondhand smoke by supporting local smoke-free air ordinances for worksites.

Multi-Unit Housing Outreach

• Assistance and smoke-free policy development and implementation.
  

Indiana Tobacco Quitline (ITQL) – 1-800-QUIT-NOW

• Promote the Indiana Tobacco Quitline (1-800- QUIT NOW) throughout the community
• Work with healthcare providers and employers to ensure they advise and refer patients and employees to the ITQL resources.
• Work with organizations to provide education and prevention resources to address the burden of tobacco on employers.

Coalition Building

• TEPC monthly meetings are held with representatives from a variety of sectors throughout the Porter County community. Members actively participate in efforts to support and implement Coalition goals to promote tobacco-free communities.

Priority Populations

Work with community organizations to reduce tobacco use among those groups most impacted by tobacco.  

The Tobacco Education and Prevention Coalition for Porter County (TEPCPC) was organized with the support of Smokefree Indiana and Valparaiso University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions, and funded through a grant from the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation agency. These funds were made available to each of Indiana’s 92 counties as a result of Indiana’s settlement with the Tobacco Industry in the landmark 1998 Master Settlement Agreement involving 46 states. These states settled with the Tobacco Industry for a total of $195 billion to recoup state Medicaid costs due to tobacco-related illnesses, and illegal marketing to youth.

Indiana’s portion of the settlement is $3.996 billion through 2025. Under Senate Enrolled Act 108, the Indiana General Assembly created 5 funds to spend the Industry payments. One of these funds created the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation agency. In addition to a statewide public education campaign, this new state agency provides funding to local counties for education and cessation efforts, as well as to a minority program aimed at reducing health disparities related to tobacco use, enforcement of youth access laws, and evaluation.

The Tobacco Education and Prevention Coalition continues to be involved in education, prevention, cessation, and policy efforts. The Coalition is dedicated to building a healthier community by reducing tobacco use and eliminating health disparities related to tobacco use. This can be accomplished by protecting residents from secondhand smoke; education; prevention; reducing youth commercial tobacco use; and offering services to assist smokers in treating nicotine dependence. Our mission is to promote tobacco control initiatives for the purpose of reducing commercial tobacco use by our citizens through education. The Coalition meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 10:00 a.m.. All are welcome to attend. Contact carolyn.higgins@valpo.edu for more information.

Partnering Coalition members can benefit from materials, educational programs, and ongoing training provided by TEPC.

In Porter County, there were 283 deaths attributable to smoking.

Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including more than 41,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure. This is about one in five deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths every day (CDC Fast Facts).

Indiana Adult Smoking

In 2018, Indiana had the 4th highest smoking prevalence among all states and the District of Columbia (Indiana Adult Smoking 2020).

21.1% of adults in Indiana smoke which is equal to 26,235 people.

Approximately 22.1% of Indiana high school students and 1.9% of middle school students use tobacco (Indiana Youth Smoking).

An estimated 2,600 Hoosier youth each year become people who smoke daily (Indiana Youth Smoking).

Smoking costs Hoosiers an estimated $2.93 billion annually in health care costs (Indiana Adult Smoking 2020).

Teen tobacco use raises the likelihood of panic attacks, anxiety disorders, and depression (11 Facts About Teen Smoking).

Effects of short term use of tobacco include shortness of breath, cancer of the mouth, yellow fingers and nails, wrinkles, reduced circulation, and an increase in illnesses.

• 8 different types of cancer
• Heart Disease
• Stroke
• Emphysema
• Bronchitis
• COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Not only is the smoker at risk for tobacco-related illnesses, but non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke are at greater risk for developing serious chronic diseases. In fact, secondhand smoke causes approximately 7,330 deaths from lung cancer and 33,950 deaths from heart disease each year (American Lung Association). Health consequences linked to secondhand smoke in adult non-smokers include cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, allergies, and increased frequency of asthma attacks.

Children and Secondhand Smoke

Around 35% of children in the U.S. have been exposed to secondhand smoke in some capacity. This equates to more than 23 million children. In children under 18 months of age, secondhand smoke causes between 150,000 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections which result in 7,500 and 15,000 hospitalizations each year (American Lung Association). In children alone, secondhand smoke increases the possibility of ear infections, more frequent and severe asthma attacks, a greater risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), respiratory symptoms, and respiratory infections.

Youth Exposure to Secondhand Smoke

Thirdhand Smoke

Cigarette smoke leaves a lingering toxic residue in furniture, curtains and on other household surfaces. This residue is called thirdhand smoke. When people smoke indoors it leaves active harmful chemicals in homes and workplaces.

Thirdhand smoke contains a number of toxic cancer-causing chemicals like arsenic, lead, and cyanide. Thirdhand smoke can cling to everything: hair, clothes, dust, furniture, car upholstery, restaurant walls, bowling alley floors… anywhere.

The nicotine in tobacco smoke also reacts with other common chemicals found in indoor air to form new carcinogens. Toxic chemicals continue to be produced on any surface the smoke touches. This process continues over time, increasing exposure and contamination. As reported in the 2006 and 2014 Surgeon General’s Reports, there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke.

For more information about thirdhand smoke, please visit: Indiana Tobacco Quitline and Indiana State Department of Health

If you are interested in ending a dependence on tobacco, a number of resources are available to help you, including:

• Indiana Tobacco Quitline (1.800.QUIT.NOW). This is a free resource to Indiana residents ages 13 and older. The quitline offers FREE individual telephone counseling sessions for people trying to end a dependence on tobacco. You will also receive a list of local cessation resources.
• The National Cancer Institute has a toll-free quitline in English and Spanish. The National Cancer Institute’s Smoking Quitline can be reached at 877.44U.QUIT or 877.448.7848 between 9:00 am and 9:00 pm Eastern Time. The National Cancer Institute also has the option to chat online with a quit-smoking counselor (available from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm Eastern Time).
• SmokeFree.gov provides reasons to quit, how to prepare to quit, managing cravings, determining your “triggers,” information about various smoking cessation aids, a publication geared just for African American smokers, and more are offered at this site. It also offers telephone counseling in both English and Spanish.
• The American Lung Association, whose website is in both English and Spanish, has an online smoking cessation program called “Freedom from Smoking” that can be accessed by going to the website. The site also has great information on steps to take when you’re planning to quit.
• The Center for Disease Control website, in both English and Spanish, has educational information, statistics, and information on how to quit.
• Nicotine Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women helping each other to live free of nicotine. There are no dues are fees. The only requirement for membership is the desire to be free of nicotine.
• Your personal primary care physician can also assist you in treating nicotine dependence.

• The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is the leading advocacy organization working to reduce tobacco use and its deadly consequences in the United States and around the world. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Through strategic communications and policy advocacy campaigns, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids works to change public attitudes about tobacco and promote proven policies that are most effective at reducing tobacco use and save the most lives.
• smokefreeteen is part of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Smokefree.gov Initiative. The goal of Smokefree Teen is to reduce the number of youth who use tobacco. Smokefree Teen helps teens stop using tobacco by providing information grounded in scientific evidence and offering free tools that meet teens where they are—on their mobile phones. Our text messaging program can help teens quit smoking and our quitSTART app helps teens become smokefree by providing helpful strategies for tackling cravings, bad moods, and other situations where teens may smoke.
• Behind the Haze is a Ready-Made Media Campaign for health organizations in need of an evidence-based youth vaping prevention campaign that can be implemented quickly.
• Flavors Hook Kids is part of Tobacco Free California. This organization provides information on the dangers of vaping as well as many parent resources.
• CATCH My Breath has been proven to launch kids and communities toward healthier lifestyles for over 30 years. CATCH Global Foundation is committed to making the many evidence-based CATCH health programs available to kids everywhere.
• Vape Free Indiana: Parents features a variety of resources for parents including E-cigarette facts, tips on how to talk to your child about E-cigarettes, cessation programs, and more!
• Parents Against Vaping (PAVe) is a national grassroots organization founded in 2018 by three New York City moms — Dina Alessi, Meredith Berkman, and Dorian Fuhrman — as a response to the youth vaping epidemic.
• The Truth Initiative inspires lives free from smoking, E-cigarettes, and nicotine. They seek, speak, and spread the truth about Big Tobacco.

Benefits of Cessation Over Time: This animated infographic shows the positive changes the body experiences over time after quitting smoking.

Refreshed to Achieve Better Health: Quit Now Indiana remains dedicated to assisting individuals in overcoming tobacco addiction. QNI is changing, growing, evolving, and rejuvenating, working closely in collaboration with both our community and health partners.

TEPC Community Conversation 2022