COSA-NCADD TO HOST PREVENTION TRAINING ON E-CIGARETTE USE
Montgomery, AL – The Council on Substance Abuse-NCADD (COSA-NCADD) is hosting a FREE Prevention Training Session, “The Prevalence of E-cigarettes Use Among Youth,” on Tuesday August 23, 2016 from 12:00-1:00 pm at their administrative office. This training is designed for professionals working with youth to understand the prevalence of ENDS (Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems) use (commonly known as e-cigarettes) and the short and long term health effects associated with its use.
New results from the 2015 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) show that while the prevalence of cigarette smoking among high school students dropped to the lowest levels since the survey began in 1991, the use of e-cigarettes among students is posing new challenges. Although the prevalence of current cigarette use decreased significantly from 28% percent in 1991 to 11% in 2015, new data from the 2015 survey found that 24% of high school students reported using e-cigarettes during the past 30 days.
According the 2014 Alabama Youth Tobacco Survey (ALYTS), 17.8% of high school students are current smokers with 9.7% reporting to be smokeless tobacco users. Also, nearly 10% of high school students report having used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days.
With a grant from the Alabama Department of Public Health, COSA- NCADD has been working to educate youth throughout the City of Montgomery on the dangers of tobacco use and the emergence of e-cigarettes. Since the beginning of 2016, “The Real Facts on Tobacco Presentation” has been presented to over 600 youth in grades 6th-12th. During the summer, presentations were held at local community centers including the YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, Houston Hills Community Center, and Sheridan Heights Community Center.
COSA- NCADD has also conducted Tobacco Retail Assessments in over 100 locations in Montgomery to understand the challenges and opportunities to work with tobacco retailers to prevent use among the teen population.
Behavioral Health Prevention Specialist and Tobacco Youth Prevention Coordinator Antonio Edwards, MPA will be the presenter for this training session.
This training is part of COSA-NCADD’s Education and Training Institute Prevention in an Hour training series that was implemented back in June. “Prevention in an Hour” is a series of one hour training on behavioral health topics for professionals and community agencies providing services to populations at-risk for alcohol and substance use disorders.
“The overall purpose is to continue providing education to professionals across multiple disciplines who work with at risk youth and families” said Kwatasian Hunt, Director of Behavioral Health Prevention.
The target audience for this training includes all professionals working with youth in various fields such as education, human services, tobacco control, juvenile justice, academics, mental health and related fields. This training is free but you must register. Seating is very limited as there will only be 20 slots available each training session. To register visit www.cosa.ncadd.org.
COSA-NCADD is an approved Continuing Education (CE) provider of the Alabama State Board of Social Work Examiners and NAADAC, the association for addiction professionals. One contact hour will be provided.
The mission of COSA-NCADD is to “reduce the incidence and prevalence of the disease of alcoholism, other drug addiction diseases, and related problems.” For more information call 334-262-1629 or visit www.cosancadd.org.
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