Wood County Prevention Coalition
Uniting For A Drug-Free Community Since 2004
Special Edition Newsletter March 15, 2019 Vol. #5 Issue #5
Illinois Senate approves Tobacco 21, sends bill to governor
Posted Mar 14, 2019 at 4:45 PM
SPRINGFIELD — The decision on whether to raise the age people can buy tobacco to 21 is now in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s hands after the Illinois Senate approved the so-called Tobacco 21 bill on Thursday, two days after the House OK’d it.
Jordan Abudayyeh, Pritzker’s spokeswoman, did not indicate whether the governor would sign the bill, only that he looks forward to reviewing the legislation.
“The governor believes in order to help build a healthy society we have to work to prevent young people from smoking,” Abudayyeh said.
Lawmakers have 30 days to send the paperwork to the governor’s office, and Pritzker will have 60 days to sign or veto it.
Former Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed Tobacco 21 legislation last year. If Pritzker OKs it, Illinois would become the eighth state to enact a Tobacco 21 law. The others are Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, Massachusetts, New Jersey, California and Virginia.
House Bill 345 passed the Senate 39-16. Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, voted against the bill, and Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, voted in favor.
Advocates say if people don’t start smoking by the time they are 18, they most likely will never start. Bill sponsor Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Deerfield, said nine out of 10 smokers started before turning 18.
More than 30 communities have enacted Tobacco 21 ordinances in Illinois, and Morrison said many have had a “significant drop” in use of tobacco products.
Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, criticized how the bill eliminates penalties for underage possession of tobacco. He said doing so takes away accountability.
He acknowledged it is not “politically fashionable” to say intervention in the court system is a good thing.
“But you know what? Once in a while, it is, particularly if a young person has to go to a smoking cessation education class, which exists in most communities today,” Righter said.
He added that intervention by a teen’s parents and law enforcement is also sometimes a good thing.
Morrison said possession penalties were removed because supporters wanted the emphasis to be on people who sell tobacco products.
Opioid Litigation Brings Company Secrets Into The Public Eye
March 13, 20195:01 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition NPR by Brian Mann
America's big drugmakers and pharmacy chains are scrambling to respond to hundreds of lawsuits tied to the deadly opioid epidemic. Billions of dollars are at stake if the companies are found liable for fueling the crisis.
Even before judgments are rendered, companies like Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and CVS are already suffering damage to their reputations as evidence in civil suits reveals more about their internal workings.
"The narrative is clearly shifting on this story," said David Armstrong, a senior reporter with ProPublica, who has covered the drug industry for years. "People want some sort of reckoning, some sort of accounting."
One reason for the shift is that cities and states filing these suits are moving more aggressively to pull back the curtain on the drug industry's practices, urging courts to make internal memos, marketing strategies and reams of other documents public.
"Our next battle is to get the depositions and the documents that are being produced made available to the public, instead of everything being filed under confidentiality agreements," said Joe Rice, one of the lead attorneys bringing lawsuits against drug companies on behalf of local governments in Ohio.
A growing number of documents have already been released or leaked to the press, and many of the revelations they contain have been troubling. In internal memos, Purdue executives acknowledged that their prescription opioids are far more addictive and dangerous than the company was telling doctors. At the same time, company directives pushed sales representatives to get even more opioids into the hands of vulnerable people, including seniors and veterans.
Memos also show that Purdue executives developed a secret plan, never implemented, called Project Tango in which they acknowledged the escalating risk of the opioid epidemic. The program was allegedly designed to help Purdue profit from the growing wave of opioid dependency by selling the company's addiction treatment services to people hooked on products like its own OxyContin.
AGENDA SET FOR NEXT FRIDAY'S COALITION MEETING
The first Wood County Prevention Coalition meeting of the year is set to take place at the Wood County Educational Service Center, 1867 N Research Dr, Bowling Green, OH 43402 this upcoming Friday, March 22nd from 8:30-10:00 AM. The featured presentation will be on the coalition's trip to the 29th Annual CADCA National Leadership Forum.
Each year in February, several thousand prevention professionals along with youth throughout the country join together for the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America’s (CADCA) National Leadership Forum in National Harbor, Maryland. This year the Wood County Prevention Coalition was able to take six members to be a part of the conference. The forum is a 4-day event, with plenary speakers, sessions on the latest information in the field, and Capitol Hill Day in which coalitions throughout the country advocate for prevention. A video presentation of the experience will be shown and reports from each member attending.
There will also be a legislative update on local, state and federal news that concerns prevention as well as the latest information concerning the coalition. There will also be an opportunity for a round-table discussion.
Be sure to have your radio dial tuned into 88.1 FM next Friday as well, The Morning Show BG will be broadcasting live from the Wood County ESC from 6 AM to 9 AM. You can also stream the show live on TuneIn Radio or other similar streaming apps.
To view or print the agenda, please see the picture below or open and view the attached pdf below the picture.
A detailed flyer of the coalition meeting is presented below the pdf of the coalition agenda.
For questions about the meeting please contact Milan Karna at (419) 354-9010 ext 174 or email mkarna@wcesc.org.
To learn more about the Wood County Prevention Coalition please visit: wcprevention.org
Safer Doesn't Equal Safe
wood county prevention coalition community meeting march 22nd
Wood County Prevention Coalition Community Meeting
Friday, Mar 22, 2019, 08:30 AM
Wood County Educational Services, Research Drive, Bowling Green, OH, USA
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