Wood County Prevention Coalition
Uniting For A Drug-Free Community Since 2004
Tobacco and the Environment
Tobacco use is not only a health issue, it is also an environmental issue. Billions of cigarettes — about 267 billion in 2015 — are smoked each year in the United States. They are the most littered item in the country. The waste from cigarettes can leach toxic chemicals into the environment, leading to land, water and air pollution.
LITTER
Since the 1980s, cigarette butts have consistently comprised 30 to 40 percent of all items collected in annual international coastal and urban cleanups.
- When counting roadway litter on a per-item basis, cigarettes and cigarette butts comprise nearly 38 percent of all collected litter, making them the most prominently littered item on U.S. roadways.
- In addition to roadway litter, cigarette butts are also the most commonly littered item collected at five of six non-roadway sites: retail areas, storm drains, loading docks, construction sites and recreational areas.
- Data from the Ocean Conservancy shows that 1,030,640 cigarette butts were removed from U.S. beaches and inland waterways as part of the annual International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) in 2016. This represents about 24 percent of the total debris of items collected and, by far, the most prevalent item found.
- In addition to cigarettes and cigarette filters, 12,089 cigarette lighters, 58,672 cigar tips and 33,865 tobacco packages or wrappers were removed from U.S. waterways during the ICC in 2015.
- Although 86 percent of smokers consider cigarette butts to be litter, three-quarters of smokers report disposing of them on the ground or out of a car window.
- Studies estimate that smokers litter as many as 65 percent of their cigarette butts.
Cigarette filters are made from cellulose acetate, a plastic which, though technically biodegradable, only degrades under severe biological circumstances, such as when filters collect in sewage. In practice, cigarette butts tossed on streets and beaches do not biodegrade.
- Even under optimal conditions, it can take at least nine months for a cigarette butt to degrade.
- The sun may break cigarette butts down, but only into smaller pieces of waste which dilute into water and/or soil.
Growing concerns over the impact of tobacco waste on the environment, as well as the substantial costs of cleanup, have prompted states, municipalities and institutions to enact a variety of policy actions. For example, 312 municipalities have prohibited smoking on their beaches, while 1,497 prohibited smoking in parks as of July 2017.
Azar Backs New MATs for Opioid Addiction
by Shannon Firth, Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today February 26, 2018
WASHINGTON -- Stigma is a barrier to crushing the opioid crisis, and strong leadership is needed to tackle it, said Alex Azar, JD, Secretary of Health and Human Services, speaking during the National Governors Association's winter meeting on Saturday, here.
Specifically, Azar noted that only one-third of treatment programs across the country provide medication-assisted treatment (MAT), and one reason is that such therapy is stigmatized.
Critics view it, in simplest terms, as replacing one drug with another.
Azar announced that the FDA would soon be releasing two new draft guidances intended to speed the development of new MATs.
In his talk, Azar likened withholding MAT for addiction to not offering antibiotics for an infection.
"Medication-assisted treatment works. The evidence on this is voluminous and ever growing," he said citing a study from Massachusetts that found MAT alongside social supports "reduced future chances of death by more than 50%."
It would be "impossible" to reverse the opioid epidemic without increasing the use of MAT, he said.
Currently, the three forms of FDA-approved therapies for treating opioid addiction are buprenorphine, naltrexone, and methadone, in conjunction with behavioral supports, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Azar took on critics of these treatment options and praised those willing to pursue them: "Someone on medically assisted therapies, even one who requires long-term treatment, is not an addict. They need medicine to return to work, re-engage with their families, and regain the dignity that comes with being in control of their lives. These outcomes are literally the opposite of how we define addiction," he said.
"Our fellow citizens who commit to treatment should not be treated as pariahs; they are role models," Azar continued.
The two new guidances the FDA is set to release aim to improve the quality of MATs and access to such therapies across the country.
One guidance will help clarify the type of evidence that drug makers need to get FDA approval for new "depot" formulations of buprenorphine, "such as data regarding how quickly the drug is distributed in the blood stream."'
Depot injections have only to be given once a month, compared with other forms of treatment that must be taken daily, and as a result can increase adherence.
The FDA approved the first monthly depot injections of buprenorphine several months ago, Azar noted.
The second guidance the FDA will be releasing includes a "more flexible and creative design" for MAT research studies.
Will Ohio's medical pot program go up in smoke?
CINCINNATI -- Legal threats and concerns of corruption are stacking up against Ohio’s fledgling medical marijuana program as the state races against a September deadline to get it fully up and running.
In the last month: A lawsuit has been filed, an audit launched and legislation proposed that all call into question the validity of the state’s process for awarding provisional licenses to growers.
“There’s a cloud of impropriety around the whole program right now,” said Sen. Bill Coley, a Republican from West Chester. “Whether it’s deserved or not is still to be determined. Mistakes have been uncovered, and we continue to find more.”
Coley’s Senate Bill 264 would prohibit Ohio from awarding final business licenses to any medical marijuana grower, processor or testing facility until the state completes an audit of the Department of Commerce's process for grading and scoring applicants vying for those licenses.
The proposal lands after months of criticism and questions from marijuana-business investors and Ohio Auditor David Yost who last month said his office discovered a “critical flaw” in Commerce Department's protocols.
“This is about making sure that we can look at each other and say ‘this was a fair process that was done correctly,'” Coley said.
The mounting problems have some industry advocates concerned that the program could be seriously delayed or derailed.
Any setback on the program's planned September start date could be a major blow to businesses that have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to launch their new start-ups and patients waiting for a new therapy, said Thomas Rosenberger, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association of Ohio.
“If these cultivators don’t have certificates of operation, then they can't grow,” Rosenberger said. “That’s a big deal.”
Late last year the Department of Commerce awarded 24 provisional licenses to small and large medical marijuana growers. More than 100 firms applied, including Cincinnati-based CannAscend - which was denied a license.
CannAscend hired an attorney to review the state’s processes and discovered that one of the consultants paid to screen applicants had been convicted of felony drug crimes.
Last week, CannAscend filed a lawsuit along with 19 other cultivation applications asking the courts to stop the program and redo the scoring for growers. Among other claims, the lawsuit alleges that at least five firms that landed a provisional license failed to adhere to Ohio's program requirements, including having adequate set-backs from schools, day cares and other sanctioned properties.
The Next Wood County Prevention Coalition Meeting: March 9th
Wood County Prevention Coalition Community Meeting
Friday, Mar 9, 2018, 08:30 PM
Wood County Educational Services, Research Drive, Bowling Green, OH, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
About Us
Our Vision: Helping youth be drug-free, productive and responsible citizens.
Our Mission: We are a coalition of compassionate community members working together to coordinate high quality programs for the prevention of youth substance abuse in Wood County.
Email: mkarna@wcesc.org
Website: wcprevention.org
Location: 1867 Research Drive, Bowling Green, OH, United States
Phone: (419)-354-9010
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WCPCoalition
Twitter: @woodpccoalition