While some counties in Kentucky are smoke-free, Joyce Adkins and the other health educators at the Barren River District Health Department, don’t think it’s enough.
But they know to try for a statewide non-smoking ordinance in one shot wouldn’t work. So they are starting with communities.
“There was a community push a few years ago, and since last fall we’ve really started to work on the tobacco cessation and youth awareness,” Adkins said.
She and the other health educators started a subcommittee of Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse Policy (KY-ASAP) and have already been out holding events to raise awareness. Last November they had a gathering in the square in Glasgow as part of the Great American Smokeout. If they can, Adkins and the BRDHD want to put up the signs they used during the gathering in Glasgow and Barren County High School.
This April they are hoping to get people signed up for becomeanex.org, an interactive Web site by the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation that promotes re-learning everyday activities that are tied to smoking, at the Mary Wood Weldon Memorial Library.
They also hope to start training at the Cardiology Associates of Southern Kentucky the Cooper/Clayton Method, a self-help and support group method that is being implemented by every health department and the Kentucky Cancer Program throughout the state, according to the Cooper/Clayton Web site.
The health department and the state are also offering two weeks of free nicotine patches to callers who use the (800) QUIT-NOW help line and are uninsured or receive Medicaid/Medicare. Help line callers must also enroll in counseling and have no medical contraindication.
While the help line helps individuals, Adkins is working with the BRDHD to bring about ordinances in local areas. She hopes through working with the community, the ordinances they propose will make it to the entire state.
“You work on the small communities and eventually there’s a statewide movement,” Adkins said. “Some counties don’t even know the dangers of smoking, but a good portion of Kentucky is smoke free.”
Despite the smoke free parts of the state, Adkins says as of yet it’s not enough to go for a statewide non-smoking ordinance.
For now, the fight for tobacco cessation is presented at 8 a.m. the first Wednesday of every month, at the Barren County Health Department. The public is welcome to come to all meetings.
Health
Health officials work to make state smoke-free one community at a time
- Health
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Summer leads to increase risk for cancer
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Nurses will have full-time presence in BC schools
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TJSCH resource center has new home
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ARC reaches those in need
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Latin Safety and Health Fair rolls into Glasgow
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