Make Your New Year’s Resolution to be Tobacco-Free in 2019!

Tobacco use is the most common preventable cause of death. About half of the people who don't quit

smoking will die of smoking-related problems. Quitting smoking is important for your health and provides many benefits. Soon after you quit your circulation begins to improve and your blood pressure starts to return to normal. Your sense of smell and taste return and breathing starts to become easier. In the long term, giving up tobacco can help you live longer. Your risk of getting cancer decreases with each year you stay smoke-free.

There are many ways to quit smoking. There are also resources to help you. Family members, friends, and co-workers may be supportive. But to be successful, you must really want to quit.

Most people who have quit smoking were unsuccessful at least once in the past. Try not to view past attempts to quit as failures. See them as learning experiences. It is hard to stop smoking or using smokeless tobacco. But anyone can do it.

Use these ideas to help you stay committed to quitting:

·         Avoid temptation. Stay away from people and places that tempt you to smoke. Later on you’ll be able to handle these with more confidence.

·         Change your habits. Switch to juices or water instead of alcohol or coffee. Take a different route to work. Take a brisk walk instead of a coffee break.

·         Choose other things for your mouth: Use substitutes you can put in your mouth such as sugarless gum or hard candy, raw vegetables such as carrot sticks, or sunflower seeds.

·         Get active with your hands: Do something to reduce your stress. Exercise or do something that keeps your hands busy, such as needlework or woodworking.

·         Breathe deeply: When you were smoking, you breathed deeply as you inhaled the smoke. When the urge strikes now, breathe deeply and picture your lungs filling with fresh, clean air.

·         Delay: If you feel that you are about to light up, hold off. Tell yourself you must wait at least 10 minutes. Often this simple trick will allow you to move beyond the strong urge to smoke.

Reward yourself. What you’re doing is not easy, so you deserve a reward. Put the money you would have spent on tobacco in a jar every day and then buy yourself a weekly treat or save the money for a major purchase.

Quitline Iowa has trained coaches that are here to listen and give you the support you need.  The Quitline Iowa coach will help you set a quit date and create a quit plan that works for you!

 

You may also refer a friend, a student, or family member to this service.

Quitline Iowa: 1-800-Quit-Now (1-800-784-8669)

How Are You Getting Home this New Year’s Eve? We Urge Drivers: Make a Sober Plan

Drunk driving has become a national epidemic. Each year, drunk-driving crashes kill more than 10,000 people in America. The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office and SAFE Coalition are working with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) this holiday season, to reach out to all drivers with an important message about this deadly, preventable crime because Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving.

Let’s say you go to a New Year’s party, you stay a few hours and have a few drinks. When it’s time to go, you think to yourself, “I’m fine to drive. I’ve only had a few drinks, and I barely feel buzzed.” You get in your car and drive toward home.  This act places you at risk of facing the consequences of drunk driving.  Buzzed driving places you and others on the road in danger of a crash; or worse, death.   Designate a sober driver.

Unfortunately, this scenario is all too realistic. Many people wrongly believe there’s a magic number of drinks or hours that determine your blood alcohol concentration (BAC).  But it’s different for every person. Many factors go into the effect alcohol has on your body. Everywhere in our country, it’s illegal to drive with a BAC of .08 or higher. A major misconception is that you have to be stumbling around drunk to be over that limit. For many people, it doesn’t take much alcohol to be too impaired for driving. NHTSA and the SAFE Coalition are hoping to change the way people think about drinking and driving, and help everyone realize that there’s no safe amount of alcohol for any driver.

Drivers convicted of DUI have many excuses, but the reality they all have in common is this: they didn’t plan ahead.  Designating a sober driver ahead of time is the only fool-proof way to avoid the dangers of drunk driving. If you wait until you’ve been drinking to gauge your level of impairment, it’s already too late.  You might tell yourself and others that you’re “okay to drive” when you’re not. Even one drink can impair your judgment and reaction time enough to cause you to overestimate your own abilities as a driver.

So next time you’re going to drink, do us all a favor and make a plan. Some simple ideas: leave your keys at home or give them to a friend; designate a sober driver who isn’t drinking at all; tell others your intentions about driving and stick to the plan; and most importantly—once you’ve had anything to drink, do not drive. Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving, so make the choice: are you drinking tonight or are you driving?

Drunk driving is never the right choice, no matter what. Even if you didn’t plan ahead, there’s always another way home. You could call a friend or family member to pick you up; and if you’re worried about leaving your car somewhere overnight, think about the alternative: a DUI costs about $10,000.

Please remember to stay safe by driving sober or by designating a sober driver this New Year’s Eve.

YLC Members Help Decorate the Community for the Holidays

It is an annual tradition that the Youth Leadership Council Members assist with decorating the community for Christmas. The YLC members feel this is an important activity that they enjoy being a part of each year. They were able to help complete the decorating this year by participating in the Festival of Trees.

YLC members are involved in decorating a tree for the Festival of Trees each year. This is an exciting project because the members know that the proceeds from their tree go toward a local charity to help those in need in our community. The students collect decorations throughout the year to complete the look of their tree. This year they had a “Caroler” theme and adorned their tree with red and silver ornaments with a hat and scarf, they hope that their tree brought in quite a bit of money to help with the Christmas for Kids Project.  The YLC members who assisted with the festival of trees project this year were: Shelbie Frey and Rose Rankin.   

 

For more information on YLC activities you may contact the SAFE Coalition at                319-293-3334 ext. 1017 or safe.coalition@van-burencsd.org. 

Stay Merry and Bright this Holiday Season - Remember: Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving

As the calendar year winds down, the holiday festivities start up. Make sure you stay off Santa’s “naughty” list: Always choose sober driving, and always plan a safe ride home before you party. To help keep Americans safe on the roads, the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office and SAFE Coalition are teaming up with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this holiday season to remind all drivers about the dangers of drinking and driving. With holiday festivities and office parties taking place, it’s essential to plan a sober ride home before ever leaving for the event. So this holiday season, as you head out for a night of merry-making, remember: Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving.

The holidays are a time of joy and reflection, but also a time to use extra caution on the roads. Unfortunately, alcohol at many holiday events contributes to the number of impaired drivers on our roadways. Help us spread the message: Even one drink is one drink too many. If you feel buzzed, you are already drunk.

According to NHTSA, 37,133 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2017, and 29 percent (10,874) of those fatalities occurred in crashes in which a driver had a blood alcohol concentration over the legal limit of .08 grams per deciliter. The holidays prove to be extra dangerous to drivers as more people—drivers and pedestrians alike—are out on the roads.

We want to keep our roads safe this holiday season and help people understand that the only time they should be behind the wheel is when they are sober. It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female, or how much you weigh, alcohol affects everyone differently, and you do not have to be feeling or acting drunk to be too impaired to drive.

Drunk driving isn’t the only risk on the road: Drug-impaired driving is also an increasing problem on our nation’s roads. If drivers are impaired by any substance—alcohol or drugs—they should not get behind the wheel of a vehicle. Driving while impaired is illegal, period. The bottom line is this: If You Feel Different, You Drive Different. It’s that simple.

Drinking and driving should never be combined. It’s essential to plan a sober ride in advance if the holiday celebration will include alcohol. The alternative could change your life, not to mention the lives of your passengers, pedestrians, or other drivers and passengers nearby.

This holiday season, the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office, SAFE Coalition and NHTSA urge drivers to designate a sober driver before heading out for the evening. If you plan on drinking, plan on not driving. First and foremost: Plan ahead. Be honest with yourself: You know whether you’ll attend a party. If you plan to drink, plan for a sober driver to take you home. Is it your turn to be the designated driver? Take that role seriously—your friends are relying on you.

·         Remember that it is never okay to drink and drive. Even if you’ve had only one alcoholic beverage, designate a sober driver or plan to use a ride service to get home safely.

·         Download NHTSA’s SaferRide mobile app, available on Google Play: (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nhtsa.SaferRide&hl=en), or the iTunes Store: (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/saferride/id950774008?mt=8). SaferRide allows users to call a predetermined friend, and identifies the user’s location so they can be picked up.

·         If you see a drunk driver on the road, contact the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office.

·         Have a friend who is about to drink and drive? Take the keys away and make arrangements to get your friend home safely.

Remember to play it safe this holiday season and always plan your sober ride before the festivities begin. If you are buzzed, do not drive. Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving.

For more information, visit www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov. 

IDPH Position Statement on CBD Product Availability in Iowa - Update

The Department of Public Health (Department) has received a number of inquiries about the legality of CBD products currently sold in the state of Iowa. It is the position of the Department that CBD products are not legal in the state of Iowa, with the following four exceptions:

1. The following appropriately prescribed, FDA-approved drugs: Marinol, Syndros, Cesamet

2. Epidiolex, produced by GW Pharmaceuticals, which has been approved by the FDA but is awaiting action by the Drug Enforcement Administration of the Department of Justice

3. Sativex, produced by GW Pharmaceuticals, as part of a FDA-approved clinical trial

4. Products produced and approved pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 124E, the Medical Cannabidiol Act, that contain less than 3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and are in a form recommended by the Medical Cannabidiol Board, approved by the Board of Medicine, and adopted by the Department pursuant to administrative rule (see 641—154.14(124E) for the approved forms).

Products manufactured in the state under the provisions of Iowa Code chapter 124E will be available at Department-licensed dispensaries only, starting in late 2018.

The Department’s authority under Iowa Code chapter 124E does not extend to regulation of the sale or use of the types of CBD products that may be currently available at retailers throughout the state. Consumers of these products should be aware that these products have not been approved for use under either a federal or state of Iowa regulatory program. Agencies with enforcement authority in this area include the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the federal Food and Drug Administration, county attorneys and law enforcement agencies.

It is the opinion of IDPH, with input from the Attorney General's office, that any CBD product not manufactured by our licensed manufacturers and sold at our licensed dispensaries is illegal (unless the product has been approved by the FDA). The above statement clarifies that. 

CBD is itself a Schedule 1 substance regardless of the amount of THC present. Some states allow CBD products to be manufactured, either under the Farm Bill or under state-passed legislation, but those products become illegal if they are shipped out of the state in which they were made. The producers of these products like to say that the products are legal in all 50 states as long as the level of THC is below 0.3%. There is no legal basis for this. The Farm Bill allows for growth of industrial hemp (with less than 0.3% THC) in those states that follow those provisions of the Farm Bill (Iowa has not accepted the terms of the Bill that allow for growth of industrial hemp), but again, any CBD extracted from industrial hemp may not be shipped out of those states. 

One note - the Farm Bill has expired and is being worked on in Congress. The new bill has an amendment to allow for over-the-counter production of CBD from hemp. If the bill is reauthorized with that amendment, the situation will change.

For additional information, please contact: Sarah Reisetter, IDPH Deputy Director, sarah.reisetter@idph.iowa.gov, 515-201-0926.