BreatheND Comments re: ND 2015 YRBS Results

Comments from Jeanne Prom, Executive Director, North Dakota Center for Tobacco Prevention and Control Policy – “BreatheND”
News conference on 2015 N.D. Youth Risk Behavior Survey, November 2, 2015


The drop in North Dakota’s high school smoking rate to 11.7% is a significant achievement and it shows that North Dakota’s comprehensive tobacco prevention efforts are working.
This work in every county and outreach to every school district is possible because in 2008, North Dakota voters passed a measure funding a comprehensive tobacco prevention program and agency. Since the law took effect in 2009, the new state agency, North Dakota Center for Tobacco Prevention and Control Policy, also known as BreatheND, distributed money from the state’s tobacco settlement to every county for a comprehensive program funded at a level recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In all counties, funds are used by local public health units to work with school districts to establish comprehensive policies. The policies make all school property and events completely tobacco-free at all times for students, staff and the public. BreatheND funding also makes it possible for communities to make their parks, daycares, apartments and businesses completely smoke-free and tobacco-free indoors and out. Over the past six years, more schools and other places have become completely tobacco-free.
Today, North Dakota youth are growing up surrounded by healthy, tobacco-free schools, parks and businesses in many cities. Tobacco-free places help kids stay tobacco-free.
But we have more work to do to make sure all kids in North Dakota are protected from the dangers of tobacco use, including electronic cigarettes.
For the first time this year, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey asked students if they used electronic cigarettes, which are devices that convert a nicotine liquid into an aerosol that is inhaled. 22.3 percent of high school students had used these “e-cigarettes” or “vaping” products in the past month.
Using nicotine at a young age can cause lasting harm to the brain, which isn’t fully developed until age 26. Nicotine is one of the most highly addictive drugs, and a curious experiment with an e-cigarette could lead kids into an addiction to any form of nicotine, whether in an e-cigarette, smokeless tobacco or cigarettes.
The CDC recently reported that e-cigarette use tripled among middle and high school students within one year. A study published in the Journal of American Medical Association showed that high school students using electronic cigarettes were more likely to begin smoking regular cigarettes. The e-cigarette use among youth is alarming.
The good news is that North Dakota is dealing with this emerging problem. BreatheND and our state and local partners supported the N.D. legislature in their efforts to regulate these otherwise unregulated products. The 2015 legislature passed a law prohibiting e-cigarette sales to minors and use by minors. The law also requires child-resistant packaging for e-cigarette liquids. Several cities, including most recently Grand Forks and Bismarck, have passed even stronger local ordinances requiring tobacco licenses for all stores selling e-cigarettes and “vape” products, and requiring products be placed behind-the-counter.
We also worked with the N.D. legislature to try to raise the price of tobacco. Our efforts were not successful, and tobacco in our state continues to be some of the cheapest in the country. This makes tobacco very affordable for our kids, who have never seen the N.D. tobacco tax increase in their lifetime. When tobacco is cheap, more people – especially kids – smoke.
The goal of BreatheND and its state and local partners is to move all tobacco use rates – including e-cigarettes and any new form of nicotine product – as close to zero as we can get. With continued funding of our comprehensive program that reaches all our counties, we will continue making progress and I’m confident we can get there.