The Freeborn County Public Health Department has received an extension on a grant to fight youth tobacco use.

Wednesday, December 22, 1999

The Freeborn County Public Health Department has received an extension on a grant to fight youth tobacco use. The board gave Public Health the go-ahead to accept the grant at Tuesday’s meeting.

The Tobacco-Free Communities for Children funds has been extended until June 30, 2001. The 18-month grant will offer the Public Health department $20,000 to continue health education to students and maintain databases.

&uot;This will be a continuation of work we’ve already done,&uot; said Lois Ahern, director of Public Health.

Ahern said the Public Health Department will continue to work with area schools and the YMCA.

Michelle Severtson, a public health nurse who heads up some of the youth education efforts, said they will also expand on some of those programs.

&uot;Second hand smoke will be a major part,&uot; Severtson said. The topic is starting to gain more attention, and Severtson would like to emphasize the dangers of second hand smoke.

&uot;I would also like to see more with peer educators,&uot; Severtson added. She thinks students are more likely to listen to their peers about the dangers of smoking. Also, peer educators will know how to get the message across students of similar age groups.

&uot;Kids think that everybody is smoking. They probably don’t even know the majority of kids aren’t smoking,&uot; Severtson said.

Some of the other efforts, such as collecting tobacco merchandise and burning it, will continue.

&uot;I think that went over pretty good last year. It was very effective,&uot; Severtson said.

But the Public Health Department also wants input from members of the community.

&uot;Basically, we’re starting from ground zero and see what the community norms are,&uot; Severtson said. &uot;We want to know what parents are saying to their kids.&uot;

The other part of the grant includes updating two databases.

&uot;We have a database of all the retailers in Freeborn County, the tobacco vendors. We will continue to update that,&uot; Ahern said.

Another database will contain all of the city and county ordinances that regulate tobacco sale and use.

Along with the tobacco endowment funds, the TFCC grant will continue to have an impact on youth tobacco use, Ahern said.

&uot;We see both of these opportunities connected to each other,&uot; Ahern said. &uot;Hopefully, we can get to the kids before they take the first drag.&uot;