March 26, 2001
Health-care professionals, health advocates, lawmakers, social workers, educators, religious leaders, and others will gather for a statewide conference, “Alabama’s Choice: Tobacco or Health?,” to examine the problem of tobacco use in Alabama.
The conference will be held April 6-7 at the Birmingham Marriott, 3590 Grandview Parkway. Conference hours are 8:30 AM to 5 PM, April 6, and 8 AM to 3:30 PM, April 7. Cost is $60 for professionals and community leaders and $25 for students.
Conference participants will discuss various topics, including tobacco and health issues, public policies to reduce exposure to tobacco smoke, ways to reduce youth access to tobacco products, and programs to prevent or quit tobacco use.
Guest lecturer Mississippi Attorney General Michael Moore will discuss tobacco settlement. In the 1990s, Moore gathered top lawyers, whistle-blowers, and the attorney generals of 39 states to join in a lawsuit to force the nation’s cigarette makers to bear some of the cost of treating tobacco-related illnesses.
Other lecturers include: David Reynolds, MD, from the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Alabama; State Health Officer Donald Williamson, MD; state Sen. Vivian Davis Figures; Alan Blum, MD, from the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society; the Rev. Jessie Brown from the National Association of African-Americans for Positive Imagery; and Brick Lancaster, PhD, and Robert Robinson, PhD. from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The conference also will feature numerous workshops, including “Cessation Programs for Youth,” “Hip Hop and the Glamorization of Tobacco,” “Helping Patients to Quit Smoking,” “Smoke-Free Restaurants and Work Sites,” and “The Special Needs of Women in Treating Nicotine Dependence.”
To register or for more information, call Diane Smith-Yoder at the Alabama Department of Public Health at 334-690-8186. For a conference brochure, go to
www.alapubhealth.org, and click on “Alabama Tobacco Prevention and Control Conference”.
Conference co-sponsors include: the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Alabama; the Alabama Department of Public Health; the UAB School of Education; the Jefferson County Department of Health; the Alabama Department of Education; the American Cancer Society, the Mid-South Division; the American Heart Association, Southeast Affiliate; the American Lung Association of Alabama; the Alabama Tobacco Free Families Program; the Alabama State Nurses’ Association; the Alabama Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics; the Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians; and the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.