“If this information doesn’t start alarming people, I’m not certain what will,” stated Salvadore Vazquez, Tobacco Education Program Director for the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency. “Addiction can start at a young age when young people might not realize how much damage tobacco can do.”

The preliminary findings of the survey affirm the current youth-focused tobacco control efforts of the Health Services Agency (HSA). Program activities are designed to prevent youth smoking through policy and community norm change. Preventing youth access to tobacco is a key component to this effort. Local surveys show that youth are able to purchase tobacco from local retailers 26% of the time - an alarming figure.

“In order to reduce smoking in our community, it cannot be perceived as an acceptable behavior,” Vazquez continued. “Increasing areas where smoking is prohibited protects non-smokers from secondhand smoke and portrays a message especially to youth that smoking is not the norm.” Policies in Stanislaus County have been put in place to limit smoking inside almost all public places including entranceways of some local businesses.

Survey findings were recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine with funding for the research from the National Cancer Institute of Canada.

The Stanislaus County Health Services Agency (HSA) is an outpatient medical system with 9 medical offices located throughout Stanislaus County. The HSA operates the Public Health Department, an Urgent Care Center and multiple programs serving over 500,000 patients and clients each year in Stanislaus County. The HSA has extensive community health information available at its web site www.hsahealth.org