We need your feedback by January 31
Deschutes County Oregon -- 1/13/2012 --
Deschutes County Health Services invites residents and visitors to complete a brief survey about secondhand smoke exposure and tobacco use in relation to County buildings and properties. The County’s goal is to better understand resident and visitor tobacco and smoke-free preferences for future policy making consideration.
Because Deschutes County is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for all who work for or visit County facilities, Health Services has published a public survey. The survey will help determine the level of support for establishing a 100 percent tobacco-free policy at some or all Deschutes County properties. Public survey results will be presented to the Board of County Commissioners at the end of February.
The survey is available for public access now through Tuesday, January 31. Depending on the level of public response, the survey may stay open for a longer period of time. The link to the survey is: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/764016/Deschutes-County-Public-Health-survey .
After the survey closes, results will be made available online and at the Deschutes County Health Services Department building. A future notice will announce more details about how to access the results.
Evidence of the health and economic costs of smoking, using other tobacco products and exposure to secondhand smoke continues to mount:
1. Secondhand smoke contains more than 4,000 known toxins; more than 50 are known to cause cancer.
2. Chewing tobacco and smokeless tobacco products contain many of the same chemicals and poisons as cigarettes. Compared to non-users, users experience nicotine addiction and higher incidence of oral cancer, increased heart rate and higher blood pressure levels.
3.Tobacco use is costly. In 2010, tobacco use cost Deschutes County about $80 million, more than $42 million (for direct medical expenditures).
If you are ready to quit tobacco use today, please call 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visit www.quitnow.net/oregon/ to learn more. The Oregon Tobacco Quit Line provides free, confidential and friendly coaching to help you quit. In addition, the Oregon Tobacco Quit Line offers an online, live chat coaching service for those who would prefer to receive help online. Visit www.oregonquitline.org to register.
For more information, please contact Deschutes County Health Educator David Visiko at david.visiko@deschutes.org or (541) 322-7481.
