Community

The prevalence of tobacco use varies significantly among different populations in Utah. Characteristics such as race, ethnicity, geographic location, income, education level, gender identity, and sexual orientation correlate with persistent tobacco use and associated health issues. Among racial and ethnic groups, cigarette smoking is highest among people who are Indigenous and Black. Smoking rates among members of Utah’s LGBTQIA2S+ Community, among people enrolled in Medicaid, rank significantly higher than the state average of 9.5% (BRFSS 2014).

With Utah’s low smoking rates, identifying populations at increased risk and reducing tobacco-related disparities are critical. Commercial tobacco companies have targeted much of their promotional efforts on historically marginalized populations, driving up tobacco-use rates in these communities. The Tobacco Prevention and Control Program partners with local organizations to decrease tobacco use in these communities. These organizations provide expertise for the populations they serve and are essential for tobacco prevention and cessation efforts within these communities.

Centro Hispano

Serving the needs of Latino and Hispanic individuals.

Comunidades Unidas

Serving the needs of Latino and Hispanic individuals.

Project Success Coalition

Serving the needs of Black and African American individuals.

The Queen Center

Serving the needs of Pacific Islander individuals.

Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake

Serving Indigenous and Native individuals.

Utah School Resource Guide


Schools greatly influence the students they serve and play a major role in reducing the rate of tobacco use among youth. Research suggests that when consistently enforced, tobacco-free school policies are essential to lowering teen tobacco use rates.

A comprehensive policy goes beyond simple compliance by supporting safe schools, promoting clean air, and creating an environment where students are encouraged to make healthy choices.

Effective school policies attempt to address the underlying addiction to commercial tobacco instead of purely punitive measures, which do not deter continued use and may exacerbate the problem. Using punitive measures such as suspension and expulsion to penalize student violations of a school’s commercial tobacco policy is not reasonable, considering the targeted marketing, science of addiction, and long-term consequences associated with expulsion and suspension. For information on programs that may be implemented in schools, please see below or contact your local health department.

This guide is designed to help Utah schools and districts through the process of incorporating recommendations from the CDC’s “Guidelines for School Health Programs to Prevent Tobacco Use and Addiction.”

Prevention and classroom resources



Addiction Policy Forum

Vaping: Know the Facts aims to correct misinformation; explain the health risks of adolescent vaping; and empower schools, parents and students to take action. For more information, visit addictionpolicy.org.


View Forum



ASPIRE

ASPIRE is a free program that can be used for prevention in the classroom or as a stand-alone resource for policy violations. See Policy Violation Resources below for more information.



Botvin Lifeskills Training

Botvin LifeSkills® Training (LST) is a research-validated prevention program. It teaches students the necessary skills to resist social pressures to smoke, drink and use drugs; and enhances cognitive/behavioral competency to reduce/prevent a variety of health-risk behaviors. There is a supplemental document to show how to incorporate vaping into several lessons. For more information, visit lifeskillstraining.com.


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Catch My Breath

This free program offers in-class activities, teacher education, online resources, and take-home materials for parents about e-cigarettes, nicotine and addiction dangers. The program is based on state-of-the-art tobacco awareness and prevention best practices and is being evaluated for outcome evidence. The curriculum consists of four lessons of 30-40 minutes each.


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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) developed this presentation to educate youth on e-cigarettes, including the health risks, the factors that lead to e-cigarette use, and what youth can do to avoid all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.


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How to handle and dispose of e-cigarette waste

Resource Library

The Tobacco Education Resource Library from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provides a robust collection of science-based, standards-mapped classroom resources. These resources were created to prevent vaping among middle and high school students. For more information visit digitalmedia.hhs.gov/tobacco/.


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Tobacco Prevention Toolkit

The Tobacco Prevention Tool Kit is a new, theory-based and evidence-informed educational resource that can be adapted to fit the individual needs of educators and students in all types of settings, including elementary, middle and high schools; community-based organizations; and health-related agencies. This tool kit contains a set of modules focused on e-cigarettes and vapes, messages on nicotine addiction, information and resources concerning positive youth development.


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Policy violation resources



ASPIRE: MD Anderson Cancer Center

ASPIRE is a free, bilingual, online tobacco prevention curriculum for teens. It was developed by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The interactive tool explains the dangers of tobacco and nicotine use. ASPIRE is not a cessation tool for students currently using tobacco. For information on resources for students currently using tobacco products, please refer to the cessation resources below or contact your local health department.

All Utah schools and peer courts can access ASPIRE under a memorandum of understanding with MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Utah Department of Health and Human Services Tobacco Prevention and Control Program. Contact your local health department for more information or, to enroll your school, contact Julie Christie at jchristie@utah.gov or 801-503-6803


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Healthy Futures: Stanford Medicine

Healthy Futures provides a one-on-one group intervention in a one- and/or two-hour plan. While one-on-one intervention is preferable, not all schools have the means to initiate this approach, so you may consider the group intervention. Learn more at https://med.stanford.edu/tobaccopreventiontoolkit.


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INDEPTH: American Lung Association

Intervention for Nicotine Dependence: Education, Prevention, Tobacco and Health (INDEPTH) is an alternative to suspension or citation that helps schools and communities address the teen vaping problem in a more supportive way. Instead of solely focusing on punitive measures, INDEPTH is an interactive program that teaches students about nicotine dependence, establishing healthy alternatives, and how to kick the unhealthy addiction that got them into trouble in the first place.


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Cessation resources



My Life, My Quit

The My Life, My Quit program is for young people ages 12 to 17 who want help quitting all forms of tobacco, including vaping. It’s free. There are online tools, text messaging and/or phone support. Parental consent is required for enrollment in the program.

My Life, My Quit helps youth:

  • Develop a quit plan.

  • Cope with stress.

  • Learn about nicotine.

  • Get ongoing support.


Text or call 855-891-9989.


Learn More



Smoke-free Teen

Smoke-free Teen helps youth stop using tobacco by providing information grounded in scientific evidence and offering free tools on their mobile phones. The text-messaging program can help youth quit smoking, and the quitSTART app helps them become smoke-free by providing helpful strategies for tackling cravings, bad moods and other situations.


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Additional resources



Youth Advocacy Coalition

The Youth Advocacy Coalition is a collective of youth groups across Utah to create healthy communities. The mission for tobacco prevention youth groups is to empower youth and adult partners to create youth-friendly, tobacco-free communities through advocacy, education and environmental changes. For more information on how to become a part of the Youth Advocacy Coalition, contact Julie Christie.
801-538-6883



Dental Vaping Screening Toolkit

The Dental Vaping Screening Toolkit is an evidence-based guide developed to help dental professionals screen for vaping screening use among Utah youth. It assists dental professionals to recognize signs of vaping use. The tool kit also equips clinicians with the ability to educate youth on the dangers of vaping as well as to connect youth to tobacco cessation services.


Learn More


Utah state capitol building

Community

Contact us





Partner health departments

Community

Bear River Health Department
Main line: 435-792-6509
Website: https://brhd.org/
Social Media: Facebook, Twitter

Central Utah Health Department
Main line: 435-896-5451
Website: https://centralutahpublichealth.org/
Social Media: Facebook, Twitter

Davis County Health Department
Main line: 801-525-5070
Website: https://www.daviscountyutah.gov/health
Social Media: Facebook, Twitter

Salt Lake County Health Department
Main line: 385-468-5348
Website: https://slco.org/health/
Social Media:
Facebook, Instagram

San Juan County Health Department
Main line: 435-587-3838
Website: https://sanjuanpublichealth.org/
Social Media: Facebook, Email

Southeast Utah Health Department
Main line: 435-637-3671
Website: https://www.seuhealth.com/
Social Media: Facebook

Community

Southwest Utah Public Health Department
Main line:
435-986-2593
Website: https://swuhealth.org/
Social Media: Facebook,Twitter

Summit County Health Department
Main line: 435-333-1500
Website: https://summitcountyhealth.org/
Social Media: Facebook, Twitter

Tooele County Health Department
Main line: 435-277-2374
Website: https://tooelehealth.org/
Social Media: Facebook, Twitter

TriCounty Health Department
Main line: 435-247-1177
Website: https://tricountyhealth.com/
Social Media: Facebook, Twitter

Utah County Health Department
Main line: 801-851-7099
Website: https://health.utahcounty.gov/
Social Media: Facebook, Twitter

Wasatch County Health Department
Main line: 435-657-3260
Website: https://www.wasatchcountyhd.org/
Social Media: Facebook, Twitter

Weber-Morgan Health Department
Main line: 801-399-7195
Website: http://www.webermorganhealth.org/
Social Media: Facebook, Twitter