Our Priority
The Shared Future Coalition focuses on preventing any form of tobacco use among adolescents. The human brain does not fully mature until the mid-twenties.1 Using tobacco before the brain is fully developed can interfere with the final stages of brain development.2 Nicotine, the addictive substance in tobacco, primes the brain for dependence. Nicotine puts youth at risk of becoming lifelong smokers and can expose them to the many harmful chemicals in tobacco and tobacco products.3 Due to limited resources, the Shared Future Coalition prioritizes the prevention of tobacco use among people under the age of 21 in order to foster healthy brain development that can have positive impacts on their health and wellbeing far into the future.
“…the earlier the exposure the greater the risk.”
Individuals who start using substances during adolecence often experience more chronic and intensive use, and they are at greater risk of developing a substance use disorder compared to those who begin use at an older age. In other words, the earlier the exposure the greater the risk.
The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health 2016.
Our Position
We discourage the use of any products containing nicotine including cigarettes, menthol cigarettes, cigarillos/little cigars, large cigars, hookahs, chew, snus, snuff, dissolvable tobacco, e-cigarettes, e-hookahs, e-cigars, vape pens, and mods. There is no safe level of second-hand smoke exposure.4,5,6 We respect, however, the ceremonial use of tobacco. We recognize that policy, systems, and environmental strategies have proven to effectively reduce the prevalence of tobacco use among youth.
Our Solutions
Our goal is to reduce the prevalence of tobacco use.
Vaping Cessation Materials
High School students in Bend, as part of Teen Community Advocates, designed and printed vaping cessation resource cards and stickers to distribute among Deschutes County schools.
“UpShift” program in Bend-La Pine Schools and Sisters School District
- All students who violate school district tobacco use policies have access to individualized services designed to stop the progression of tobacco use and other substance misuse
- Services offered have been shown to be effective in research studies
Taking Action
- Community mobilization to engage local decision-makers on harms of inhalant delivery devices
- (e-cigarettes)
- Advocacy for protecting the Indoor Clean Air Act from threats posed by allowing any kind of smoking indoors
Helping People Quit Tobacco
- Fostering Healthy Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Development in Children and Youth: A National Agenda. (2019). The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25201
- Hiller-Sturmhofel, S., & Swartzwelder, H. S. (n.d.). NIAAA Publications. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Publications. Retrieved November 8, 2021, from https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh284/213-221.htm
- Astor, R. L., Urman, R., Barrington-Trimis, J. L., Berhane, K., Steinberg, J., Cousineau, M., Leventhal, A. M., Unger, J. B., Cruz, T., Pentz, M. A., Samet, J. M., & McConnell, R. (2019). Tobacco Retail Licensing and Youth Product Use. Pediatrics, 143(2), e20173536. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-3536
- 2014 Surgeon General’s Report: The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress. (2014). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services : Public Health Service : Office of the Surgeon General. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/50th-anniversary/index.htm
- Office of the Surgeon General. (2010). A Report of the Surgeon General: How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: What It Means to You. Department of Health and Human Services. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/2010/consumer_booklet/pdfs/consumer.pdf
- National Toxicology Program. (2016). 14th Report on Carcinogens. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/whatwestudy/assessments/cancer/roc/index.html?utm_source=
direct&utm_medium=prod&utm_campaign=ntpgolinks&utm_term=roc14
