January

Well, my ultimate plan didn’t work out like I thought it would. Apparently volunteers are very easy to come by in OKC (which is a good thing) and not that many people were overly enthusiastic about having me volunteer for a month. They were looking for “more of a commitment”. Whatever. The ones who did agree to placate me will be featured here this year.

For January, due to the lost week during the Fiesta Bowl, I decided to focus on my work with the Oklahoma County Tobacco Use Prevention Coalition. Since I am board chair I thought I’d go ahead and toot my own horn on this valuable group.

History
After the big tobacco companies settled their MASSIVE law suits each state got money. Oklahoma did a really great thing and immediately put their settlement into a Trust otherwise known as TSET. That trust now funds several different state coalitions, departments, etc., that focus on the health issues of prolonged tobacco use.

My coalition focuses on Oklahoma County and really is used primarily for education and legislative issues. We show up at health fairs and pass out information on the health risks and how to stop smoking to those who want to. We do several different media events to shed light on the manipulative ways tobacco companies market their death sticks and work with legislators to enact legislation that will improve the health of Oklahomans state wide. We work hand in hand with other groups like the OK County Health Dept, American Cancer Society, the Heart Association, etc.

Currently, in January, we have been focused on gearing up for the state legislative session starting in February. Last week I was interviewed by our local FOX 25 station regarding two pieces of legislation that would restore local rights to municipalities regarding clean air laws. This legislation would not impact the age to sell to, nor the taxes levied on tobacco products, nor even the products themselves. It would simply allow cities and municipalities to enact their own laws (that may or may not be more stringent than the state laws) regarding tobacco use in public places.

Why is this important?
1. Currently Oklahoma ranks in the bottom 10% of states in regard to “health”. Tabulated into those rankings are the rates of obesity, heart disease, asthma, and deaths from cancer (just to name a few). What do high rates of all those things have in common? High rates of tobacco use.

2. In this age of a shitty economy everyone is scrambling tooth and nail for jobs. What do most companies look at when evaluating cities to locate their business in? Quality of living. What is one of the key issues related to Quality of Living? Health rankings. Our high levels of work days lost and high insurance rates are two main things that can discourage businesses from locating in Oklahoma.

Jobs are scarce people. Luckily (thanks to the Oil and Gas Industry) Oklahoma has weathered the storm pretty well. But every state is scrambling and offering all sorts of tax incentives and breaks to get companies to locate their jobs in their state. We are competing every day against Texas for new businesses and jobs. Texas keeps winning out for several reasons…least of which is that they enacted preemption laws several years ago.

3. Cities and municipalities across the state have the ability to set their own ordinances regarding fire protection, police, EMT, etc. All preemption would do, would be to allow them the same ability to enact ordinances that relate to clean air in public spaces.


Grassroots at it's best
Like I said in the first blog entry…this journey this year will hopefully inspire you to engage in community and non-profit projects in our OKC community. If tobacco use prevention or local rights issues are your thing please look at getting involved in this issue.

There are many ways in which to get involved. You can contact any of the organizations listed below for more information. You can also contact your state representative and senator and let them know you whole heartedly support HB 2267 by Rep. Cox (a physician no less) and SB 1032 by Sen. Simpson. If you don’t know who your legislators are you can easily find out by going to www.oklegislature.gov and typing in your HOME address. Always remember that who you vote for is determined by where your house is located…not business.

Also, Smoke Free Oklahoma will be hosting a lobbying day at the state capitol February 21, 2012. Pre-registration is crucial so make sure you visit their website to sign up.

Organizations
www.smokefreeok.com
www.occhd.org/oklahoma-county-tobacc-use-prevention-coalition
www.occhd.org/community/wellnessnow
www.cancer.org
www.heart.org

Remember this is just a sample of the groups who work on tobacco issues. For groups in your specific area and for tobacco issues outside the state of OK do a Google Search of local coalitions and groups.