In the past five years, a strong informal partnership and collaboration has been formed around the issue of tobacco in Eaton County. With the SYNAR alternative penalty funding, an alliance was formed with several local police departments and the Eaton County Sheriff’s Department. Law enforcement officers collaborated with prevention staff to inspect local retail establishments for the sale of tobacco to minors. The Eaton County Tobacco coalition was formed in January, 2002 and met regularly until the inception of the Eaton County Substance Abuse Advisory Group. A tobacco subgroup was formed, as ECSAAG meetings progressed, to address plans for Goal 4. The subgroup met several times, during the ECSAAG monthly meetings. This work group consists of youth, school personnel, law enforcement officers and government officials. Their input has been invaluable in formulating the plan for this goal. Many of the members have previously participated in or supported civilian or law enforcement inspection checks.
A strong collaboration of community partners exists around youth tobacco prevention and advocacy, including partners from Capital Coalition, Willow Plaza Services, American Lung Association and American Cancer Society. For the past 8 years, these partners have provided TATU and youth advocacy training to high school students in the tri-county area. This group is in the process of evaluating the strength of current youth programming. Results will be shared with members of the Capital Coalition, ECSAAG and MSSAC, upon completion. The Michigan Model for Comprehensive School Health Education is a promising research-based curriculum and is implemented in several local school districts. Specific lessons pertaining to tobacco prevention are taught to students at grades K-12.
The problem of youth access to tobacco is a problem in our country, state and county. When youth can access tobacco easily they are more prone to smoking behavior and tobacco addiction. In our nation, despite laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco to minors in all states, 19 % of underage high school students who were current smokers reported that they usually bought cigarettes in a store or gas station. Of those, 67% were not asked to show proof of age when buying cigarettes.* According to the Michigan Youth Risk Behavior Survey (MYRBS,2003) 7% of Michigan student smokers usually got their own cigarettes by buying them in a store or gas station during the past 30 days. Older students were nearly twice more likely to purchase their own cigarettes than younger students-- 18% of 12th graders vs. 2% of 9th graders. One fifth of underage smokers were able to buy cigarettes at a store or gas station. Males were more likely to report this than females.
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