About

Our Focus

Our focus is on our youth prevention work through our VOICE student advocacy effort group in the Michigan City Area Schools. Emphasis is being placed on creating a “network of cessation” to encourage all smokers to quit smoking. In 2002 when the program began, the current county smoking rate was 30.7%. Healthy Communities has been an integral part of reducing that number to its current rate of 29%.

There is still a great deal of work to be done. The coalition continues to support efforts to help residents quit smoking and preventing residents from becoming smokers.

Smoke Free Workplaces

Indiana employers spend more per worker on health care compared to other states. Smoke-free businesses help protect employees from secondhand smoke. Often, smoke-free air policies at work encourage employees who smoke to consider quitting. Contact Healthy Air: Smoke Free La Porte County or visit http://www.quitnowindiana.com/Employers.html for more information

Smoke Free Multiunit Housing

There isn’t a safe level of secondhand smoke exposure and secondhand smoke can enter neighboring apartments triggering asthma attacks and other health issues.

We can assist property owners in adopting smoke free policies.

For more information on smoke free multiunit housing, contact us or visit http://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/tobacco/smokefree-environments/multi-unit-housing/

Smoke Free La Porte County Campaign

Smoke Free Air July 1, 2012, Indiana passed a smoke-free air law. That means more Hoosiers are protected from the dangers of secondhand smoke. Unfortunately, all workers are not protected from secondhand smoke in the workplace. Bars, taverns, night clubs, casinos, private clubs (Ex. fraternal and veterans’ organizations), and retail tobacco shop are excluded from the law. A local ordinance could be passed in La Porte County protecting workers According to the American Journal of Public Health, “Regional studies have suggested that the implementation of clean indoor air and tobacco control policies is not evenly distributed across the United States; communities with high education and income are more likely to adopt 100% smoke-free laws than communities with lower education and income; disparities also exist by race/ethnicity.”
Read the full study here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3698815/
Citation: Am J Public Health. 2013 May; 103(5): e62–e66.
Published online 2013 May. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.301045

This means we are not protecting the most vulnerable La Porte County citizens. Many of our establishment not covered by the state law, employ workers with limited means of securing a new job. Employment may depend on bus routes, hours, and benefits; making it almost impossible for workers to choose their health over their paycheck.

Electronic Cigarettes

The U.S. Surgeon General released a report in 2016 concluding that e-cigarette aerosol is not harmless, and can contain harmful chemicals, including carcinogens, and extremely addictive levels of nicotine.

Increasing Cigarette and Tobacco Product Taxes

• Lowers youth initiation
• Help adults to quit
• Provide funding for much-needed health programs

COVID-19 Information

How does COVID-19 affect people who use tobacco products? Researchers and medical professionals are saying it is reasonable to assume that smoking, and possibly vaping, could increase the risk of developing serious adverse effects from the COVID-19.

• In general, long-term smokers and e-cigarette users are at a heightened risk of developing chronic lung conditions. The CDC has said that those with serious underlying medical conditions, such as lung disease, heart disease and diabetes, may be at a higher risk from COVID-19.
• Smoking and vaping have been shown to affect the lungs and the immune system, which strongly suggests that using these products increases the risk of infection and worse outcomes from COVID-19.
• Experts are warning, based on current research, that people with compromised health due to smoking or vaping and people with opioid, methamphetamine, cannabis, and other substance use disorders could find themselves at increased risk of COVID-19 and its more serious complications.
• With the global outbreak of COVID-19, now is the best time to quit tobacco use in order to keep your body resilient against disease. There are free resources available that Hoosiers can use in the comfort of their own home, including the Indiana Tobacco Quitline. Those who are ready to quit can call 1-800-Quit-Now for phone counseling, or by visiting QuitNowIndiana.com for more information.
• Young people interested in quitting vaping can text ‘Indiana’ to 88709 to enroll in the This Is Quitting text messaging program.
• Cigarette smoking is a substantial risk factor for bacterial and viral infections. Cigarette smoking also appears to be a major risk factor for respiratory tract and other systemic infections.
• COVID-19 is a mild to severe respiratory illness that is caused by a coronavirus and is transmitted mainly by exposure to respiratory droplets. Symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and may progress to pneumonia and respiratory failure.
• Researchers and medical professionals are saying it is reasonable to assume that smoking, and possibly vaping, could increase the risk of developing serious adverse effects from the COVID-19.
• In general, long-term smokers and e-cigarette users are at a heightened risk of developing chronic lung conditions.
  • The CDC has said that those with serious underlying medical conditions, such as lung disease, heart disease and diabetes, may be at a higher risk from COVID-19.
• Smoking and vaping have been shown to affect the lungs and the immune system, which strongly suggests that using these products increases the risk of infection and worse outcomes from COVID-19.
• Experts are warning, based on current research, that people with compromised health due to smoking or vaping and people with opioid, methamphetamine, cannabis, and other substance use disorders could find themselves at increased risk of COVID-19 and its more serious complications.
• With the global outbreak of COVID-19, now is the best time to quit tobacco use, and eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke, in order to keep your body resilient against disease.
  • There are free resources available that Hoosiers can use in the comfort of their own home, including the Indiana Tobacco Quitline. Those who are ready to quit can call 1-800-Quit-Now for phone counseling, or by visiting QuitNowIndiana.com for more information.
  • Young people interested in quitting vaping can text ‘Indiana’ to 88709 to enroll in the This Is Quitting text messaging program.

---