Priority Area: Smoking Cessation
Louisiana Ranking: 44th up from 48th in 2020
WIN! Louisiana legislature mandates comprehensive smoking cessation coverage including individual and group counseling and pharmacotherapy by all payors. READ MORE
WIN! Louisiana legislature mandates comprehensive smoking cessation coverage including individual and group counseling and pharmacotherapy by all payors. READ MORE
Explore Smoking in Louisiana | 2022 Annual | AHR (americashealthrankings.org)
What we should know and do to drive change:
FACT: Twenty-one studies showed that smoke free laws and policies in the workplace were linked to a 3.4% decrease in tobacco prevalence CDC second hand smoke exposure Smoke-free ordinances, including bans in bars and casinos, will decrease the smoking prevalence rate in Louisiana, prevent initiation of smoking among youth, and reduce exposure to secondhand smoke.
The most effective way to provide protection from secondhand smoke are smoke free policies.
Currently, only 32.1% of the population is covered, and Louisiana lags behind the nation in its smoke free laws, as 62.3% of the United States population is covered (AHR).
Smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in Louisiana (CDC).
As of 2022, almost 20% of adults in Louisiana continue to smoke. A 6% decrease is required to meet the national average (AHR).
Adult cigarette smokers. Adult prevalence is highest among Louisianians who earn less than $49,000 (AHR).
Explore Smoking in Louisiana | 2022 Annual | AHR (americashealthrankings.org)
FACT: Expanding Medicaid coverage of smoking cessation programs to include pharmaceutical and counseling for all clients will result in a decrease in the adult smoking prevalence rate in Louisiana.
LA|US Rates:
LA Rate: 22.9% Amongst high school students. 15.4% amongst middle schools.
US Rate: 32.7% Amongst high school students.
(AHR)
FACT: CATCH My Breath program designed to prevent e-cigarette use among 5th-12th graders has been shown to significantly reduce the likelihood of e-cigarette use among students who complete the program (Public Health Reports).
Research has shown that use of the CATCH My Breath curriculum resulted in 1) reductions in nicotine vaping use, 2) increases in nicotine vaping knowledge, 3) increases in positive perceptions of vape-free living, and 4) reductions in overall tobacco use.
CATCH My Breath is bases on the “psychosocial determinants of e-cigarette susceptibility, initiation, and sustain use,” and its implementation in middle schools lowered e-cigarette use among the target population (Public Health Reports).
FACT: Among youth who report e-cigarette use, 84.9%use flavored products, with “fruit” being the most popular flavor (CDC).
In December 2019, Congress passed theTobacco legislation that raised the federal minimum age able to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21, including e-cigarettes.
24 states and the District of Columbia have enacted policies. Louisiana is one of these states.
Nine states have banned flavored e-cigarettes, as these have a huge draw to adolescent e-cigarette use. Louisiana is not one of these, but hopefully will work towards passing this in the future.
Read more:Regulating Vaping — Policies, Possibilities, and Perils
E-cigarette fact sheet: https://www.cdc.gov/statesystem/factsheets/ecigarette/ECigarette.html
FACT: 6 Texas schools that applied the Catch My Breath intervention showed that increases in e-cigarette use were significantly lower in intervention schools (2.8%-4.9%) than the 6 control schools who did not provide the intervention (2.7%-8.9%). (PHR)
Intervention schools had significantly greater improvements in e-cigarette knowledge (β = 0.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.21-1.21; P= .008) and perceived positive outcomes (β = –0.12; 95% CI, –0.23 to –0.02;P= .02) than control schools). (PHR)
Catch My Breath is a cost-free program that operates on the bases of “psychosocial determinants of e-cigarette susceptibility, initiation, and sustain use,” and its implementation in middle schools. (Public Health Reports)
Catch My Breath has not been utilized in Louisiana middle and high schools. Next steps include researching Catch My Breath utilization in Louisiana middle and high schools, mapping all vaping curriculums being used in Louisiana middle and high schools, and Developing action plan on how to 1) train teachers and educators on Catch My Breath curriculum, and 2) work with school superintendents to mandate use of program in all Louisiana middle and high schools.
Catch My Breath is the only evidence-based youth nicotine vaping prevention program for grades 5-12 that has been proven to substantially reduce students’ likelihood of vaping. The vape education program’s effectiveness was published in a peer-reviewed journal and the program is listed in SAMHSA’s Evidence-BasedResource Guide Series. (Catch My Breath)