The Emporia chapter of Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) has received a grant of $5,000 from the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition. The grant is in conjunction with the “Smokeless Does Not Mean Harmless” campaign to educate youths and to reduce their use of smokeless tobacco, according to information from SWAT.
The award was one of 20 $5,000 grants to established youth groups in Kansas.
A SWAT news release stated that Kansas has a higher-than-average use of smokeless tobacco. The 2005 Kansas Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed that 17.4 percent of high school boys were using smokeless tobacco, compared to a national average of 13.6 percent.
“According to the 2002 Kansas Youth Tobacco Survey, approximately one out of every three youth do not know that smokeless tobacco is not a safe alternative to cigarettes,” project director Dawn Nail stated in the news release.
Grant activities will emphasize empowering youths and supporting local youth groups, mobilizing the community on issues of smokeless tobacco, counter-marketing its use and policy initiatives for tobacco-free county fairs, rodeos, sporting and other public events.
SWAT is a program of Emporians for Drug Awareness and the Lyon County Tobacco Free Coalition. SWAT efforts will focus on Chase, Lyon, and Morris counties.
More information may be had by calling Nail at 341-2450.
Funding for the project was provided by the Sunflower Foundation: Heath Care for Kansans, a Topeka-based philanthropic organization.
More information about Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition activities and goals is available at www.tobaccofreekansas.org.