Menthol Tobacco Prevention and Education
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH) Division of Tobacco Prevention and Control, and Latino Connection partnered through the” Increasing State Menthol Capacity Learning Collaborative” program to address the healthcare, public health, and social justice impacts of menthol tobacco use.
This initiative included a nation-wide learning series in which health departments, community-based organizations, and prevention teams shared best-practices and innovations to increase awareness about menthol tobacco. Latino Connection created a webinar series (in English and Spanish), community outreach events, and a social media campaign.
- Menthol makes nicotine more addictive.
- More than 50% of teen smokers start with a menthol brand.
- Among Black teens, the rate of menthol smoking is over 90%.
- Menthol brands are used by 85% of Black smokers.
- People who smoke menthol cigarettes have more difficulty quitting and have more health problems that result from smoking.
- Menthol tobacco products are marketed more heavily in communities of low income and color.
To request a training or for more information about menthol tobacco and public health, please contact us
Tobacco Media Campaigns
We developed and curated a campaign using shocking custom illustrations, paired with succinct verbiage in both English and Spanish, to encourage viewers to seek free support via the PA Quitline. We all need a friend to lean on and to lift our spirits. A caring friend who will always be there by your side through the hard times and make you feel better. Sometimes, that friend isn’t a person. It’s actually a cigarette. The truth hurts when you realize that your so-called best friend is actually toxic to you and the people that you love.
Do It For THEM is Latino Connection’s smoking cessation program that focuses on educating adults on the effects smoking has on children close to them. Do It For THEM strives to achieve tobacco control from a preventative measure as well as one of shared personal responsibility. Do It For THEM aims to target smokers with statistics regarding how their smoking habit affects their children, grandchildren, young family members, and friends’ children and help smokers to understand they have the power to prevent the youth from ever starting the nicotine habit.
Tobacco Resistance Unit (TRU)
About TRU
The Tobacco Resistance Unit, funded by a grant through the Pennsylvania Department of Health, is a movement throughout all of Pennsylvania to help youth, ages 12 to 18, stay tobacco and vape-free. TRU aims to prevent and stop youth tobacco use and vaping through youth-led activities and peer-to-peer education.
TRU’s Goals
- Educate young Pennsylvanians about the dangers of tobacco and nicotine addiction
- Expose Big Tobacco’s marketing lies
- Grow TRU – Recruit TRU members through community outreach.
- Host fun youth programs that ensure increased participation in the TRU movement.
- Help youth (and adults) who smoke or vape to quit.
Join TRU
- Participating in TRU can be in-person or virtual.
- TRU members will receive support and materials, including SWAG and giveaways to host TRU Storms which are tobacco and vape education events and activities at their schools and in their communities
- TRU members gain valuable experience for college and job applications and will help make a positive impact in their community and schools.
- To join TRU or become a TRU adult advisor, please email Program Manager, Raquel Huggins at rhuggins@latinoconnection.org and visit truinpa.org.
Advocates for Tobacco and Vape-Free Communities
In 2023, Latino Connection, a Color & Culture catalyst, launched, in partnership with the American Lung Association, the Pennsylvania Alliance to Control Tobacco, and the Pennsylvania Department of Health Division of Tobacco Prevention and Control: Advocates for Tobacco & Vape-Free Communities (ATVFC)
Purpose
- Identify tobacco use prevention needs of the minority communities.
- Leverage resources in education, healthcare, mental and behavioral health, and social and human services to reduce the burdens of tobacco.
- Define key performance metrics in reducing tobacco use-related burdens among minority communities to help programs and interventions have a real and measurable impact.
- Raises awareness through press events, interviews, letters to the editor, and community and professional education events about the impacts of tobacco on minority communities.
Join the Advocates
- The Advocates meets virtually every other month.
- ATVFC members are asked to attend the meetings and can expect to dedicate 1-2 hours per month to related activities.
- To join the Advocates for Tobacco & Vape-Free Communities, please email Nicolas Polanco at npolanco@latinoconnection.org.