National Drug & Alcohol Facts Week is January 25 – February 1, 2016 and Cobb & Douglas Public Health (CDPH) wants to help residents ‘Shatter the Myths’ of tobacco abuse in Cobb and Douglas counties. In observation of National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week, CDPH is debunking the myth around secondhand smoke.

No amount of secondhand smoke is safe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has connected the deaths of more than 400 infants and 41,000 adult nonsmokers every year to secondhand smoke nationwide. And those deaths are entirely preventable.

Smoking Myths Shattered:

Myth: Marijuana isn’t addictive.
Fact: According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), 1 in 11 people who use Marijuana become addicted.

Myth: Smoking when you’re young doesn’t mean you’ll become addicted.
Fact: Most people who start smoking in their teens become regular smokers before they are 18.

Myth: Smokeless tobacco does not cause cancer.
Fact: Smokeless tobacco increases the risk of cancer, especially oral cancers.

The best and only way to protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke is to eliminate smoking in all homes, worksites and public places, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. With the help of community leaders and involved residents, the CDPH Cobb2020 Breathe Easy Cobb initiative is working towards alleviating the issue of secondhand smoke.

“By providing support for organizations and municipalities to adopt tobacco-free/smoke-free policies, Breathe Easy Cobb is strengthening local tobacco-free regulation and lessening the occurrence of secondhand smoke, and working towards their vision of all public places and work places in Cobb County becoming tobacco-free,” said Wende Parker, Director of Chronic Disease and Prevention at Cobb & Douglas Public Health.

The adoption of local tobacco-free/smoke-free polices has been widely accepted. The Georgia Department of Public Health 2015 Georgia Tobacco Use Surveillance Report found 71% of adult smokers and 84% of adult non-smokers support laws making indoor areas smoke-free.

This response may have come as a result of the positive aftermath of the Georgia Smokefree Air Act of 2005 which prohibits smoking inside most public areas and provides guidelines for allowing smoking in and around establishments that serve the public. If you or someone you know needs help with tobacco abuse, call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669), a national toll-free number that can help people get the information they need to quit smoking.

For more information about secondhand smoke and Breathe Easy Cobb visit cobb2020.com/cobb2020-programs/breathe-easy-cobb or call 770-514-2300.