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Tobacco Cessation News

June 29, 2009

FDA investigates safety of chantix

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently investigating the safety of Chantix, a smoking cessation medication approved in May 2006.  The FDA issues quarterly reports about medications under investigation for possible safety issues, and Chantix is one of 20 medications under investigation. Read an article about the FDA study on Chantix.

Binge drinking increases lung cancer risk in smokers

Smokers who binge drink are more likely to develop lung cancer, according to a recent study conducted by the University of Kuopio in Finland.  Binge drinking was not associated with increased risk of lung cancer among non-smokers.  Read a news release about the study of binge drinking and lung cancer risk among smokers.

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WorkSHIFTS Presents at the National Conference on Tobacco or Health

WorkSHIFTS recently presented at the 2009 National Conference on Tobacco or Health (NCTOH), held in Phoenix, Arizona on June 10 – 12.  NCTOH brings together a diverse array of leaders in the tobacco control community including health care providers, advocates, policymakers, public health practitioners, and legal experts.  Bernie Hesse, UFCW Local 789, and Alison Moore, WorkSHIFTS staff member, presented a poster highlighting the efforts of WorkSHIFTS to address smoking cessation in the labor community.  The presentation, Influencing Taft-Hartley Funds to Provide and Promote Tobacco Cessation Benefits, described findings from a previous research study investigating health benefit decision-making among Taft-Hartley Health and Welfare Funds.  For more information about the presentation, please feel free to contact Alison Moore at alison.moore@wmitchell.edu or Susan Weisman at susan.weisman@wmitchell.edu.

WorkSHIFTS poster» View the WorkSHIFTS poster, "Influencing Taft-Hartley Funds to Provide and Promote Tobacco Cessation Benefits" PDF, 5.46 Mb

 

 

Alison Moore

Bernie Hesse

About WorkSHIFTS

WorkSHIFTS is a program of the Tobacco Law Center, working with the labor community in Minnesota to provide education, training, and technical assistance to Minnesota workers and labor management about the health risks and economic consequences of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke in the workplace.

WorkSHIFTS key activities include:

  • Actively involving labor leaders in the development of educational, training, and resource materials that inform their coworkers about health, safety, and economic issues related to tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace.
  • Providing training for labor leaders so they can share with union members information about tobacco, its relationship to other workplace toxins, the benefits of quitting smoking, how these concerns can be addressed with voluntary workplace smoke-free initiatives, collective bargaining, and other mechanisms to produce policy changes.
  • Providing resources for labor and management to develop workplace tobacco policies that improve and protect the health of employees, including cessation coverage and tobacco-free workplace campus policies.
  • Working closely with labor unions, public health organizations, and others in Minnesota and beyond that share a commitment to worker health and safety and seek to protect workers and safeguard their rights.
  • Engaging in community-academic research that supports evidence-based policiies to improve health and reduce the harm of tobacco use among blue-collar workers.
     

WorkSHIFTS is funded by ClearWay Minnesota.