Tobacco Education & Prevention Program (TEP)
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The Tobacco Education and Prevention Program (TEP) is strictly focused on passing policies on tobacco related issues. All of the work done within the program is meant to lead up to passing policies. Any efforts of community outreach or education outside the realm of policy passing is not approved by the state grant. Since TEP is policy driven, the initiatives of the program include proving that there is a need and that there is support for it. The program gains and assesses the community’s needs and support through outreach such as education events and public intercept surveys. For instance, the Public Opinion Survey (POS) that I took part in administering for the City of Watsonville to assess the community's support for ending the sale of tobacco by 2035.
Tobacco Education Coalition (TEC)
Tobacco Education Coalition (TEC)
The Santa Cruz County Tobacco Education Coalition (TEC) is a community group that advocates for a tobacco-free lifestyle and environment. The TEC is made up of various community agencies, including Santa Cruz County Office of Education, Health Improvement Partnership, and local Sheriffs departments within the County. Agencies within the coalition do a variety of advocacy work such as prevention education and TPW clean-up.
The Coalition is essential in achieving the necessary policy advocacy on tobacco-related issues and to addressing the disparities of the impacts of tobacco to different communities.
Community partnerships to reach the mission of the program's work:
Since the Tobacco Education and Prevention Program (TEP) is exclusively limited to educate and advocate for general tobacco policy solutions, they are not allowed to lobby for a specific policy. Therefore, Coalition members are asked to step in and do the lobbying push to get specific tobacco-related policies over the finish line with public policy makers. For instance, at the September 21st, 2022 TEC meeting, Tara Leonard encouraged members of the TEC to attend the September 27th, 2022 Santa Cruz City Council Meeting to advocate for the ban of single-use tobacco waste. TEC members such as Save Our Shores, Friday Night Live, and Cigarette Surfboard showed up to make public comments on this issue.
(TEP staff member Tara Leonard’s presentation begins at about 2:45:00)
Resources provided by Tara Leonard's to the City Council:
#1 Tobacco Product Waste: A White Paper (CTCP)
#2 Tobacco Product Waste of Public Health and Environmental Tool Kit
"high-level, upstream policy approaches"
"high-level, upstream policy approaches"
During Tara Leonard's 15-minute presentation to the City Council, she provided the council with a chart of potential tobacco product waste (TPW) policy approaches and the pros/cons of each, along with a list of all tobacco retailers in the jurisdiction. An example of an upstream policy approach was provided by Tara Leonard at the Santa Cruz City Council meeting in which she presented tobacco product waste (TPW) policy options. Given that cigarette filters are the most littered item in Santa Cruz, Tara Leonard stated that passing the ban of single-use tobacco products would handle the issue at the source and prevent the litter before it gets to the retailers, let alone make its way to the city’s streets and beaches. "TEP implements an upstream approach to Public Health by providing the framework to pass policies that hold the tobacco-industry responsible rather than local governments, local taxpayers, voluntary organizations, retailers, or users" (102 Analytical Essay #1).
Environmental Determinants of Health
In efforts to address the environmental determinants of health, TEP and Wetlands Watch produced a video in which they highlighted the environmental impact of TPW on low-income communities and communities of color, specifically in the City of Watsonville.
In addition to a variety of other environmental agencies that serve as member in the Coalition, DownTown Streets Team has made vigorous efforts in cleaning up tobacco product waste (TPW), as seen above.
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