Signs Available for Your Schools

VTSF is offering free signs (see above) for use at schools. They are metal signs and can be affixed to poles or fences on school grounds. Please let me know if you work with any schools that would like the signs.



Email me at lbrown@vtsf.org.

New generation of tobacco products threatens efforts to reduce tobacco use, save lives in U.S., report warns

An insidious new generation of tobacco products is threatening efforts to reduce tobacco use in the United States, warns a new report issued today by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. You can find the full report and a slideshow of recent tobacco products at www.tobaccofreekids.org/productsreport.

This report:
· Details how tobacco companies take advantage of the lack of government regulation to design and market products that recruit new youth users, create and sustain addiction to nicotine, and discourage users from quitting;

· Describes the new generation of products tobacco companies have unleashed to counter declining smoking rates and growing restrictions on smoking;

· Demonstrates how effective effective regulation of tobacco products by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as exemplified by legislation before Congress, can curtail the tobacco industry’s harmful practices and save lives.

GOSAP Grant Program

The Governor’s Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (GOSAP) is pleased to announce the 2008-2009 Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (SDFSCA) Grant Program. The Request for Proposals (RFP) outlining the program components and specifics is now available at http://www.gosap.virginia.gov/SDFSCA/announcement2008-2009.htm . GOSAP SDFSCA grant programs are intended to supplement the SDFSCA funds that flow directly from the Virginia Department of Education to every local school division for substance abuse and violence prevention programming. In addition, community needs assessments regarding youth substance abuse and violence may also seek GOSAP SDFSCA funds.Organizations who intend to submit a proposal for this funding are required to have a representative attend one of the three RFP Workshops. Workshops are being held in Newport News on February 29, 2008, in Wytheville on March 5, 2008, and in Stafford County on March 7, 2008.

Please see the web site (see above) for specifics regarding the workshops.

If you are not able to reach the web site, or still have questions after reading the RFP and information, please contact Joy Rogers-Murphy at the VCU Center for School-Community Collaboration at (804) 828-1482 or rodgersmurlj@vcu.edu.

Right to the point!

Sheraton Hotels Ban Smoking

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts and Four Points by Sheraton Hotel brands will ban smoking at more than 300 hotels and resorts throughout the U.S., Caribbean and Canada.
The new policy follows one implemented at Westin Hotels & Resorts, which became smoke-free in 2006. Westin and Sheraton are both owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
Some 8,000 rooms at the hotels will be cleaned, including treatments for air conditioning, walls, rugs, upholstery and hard surfaces. Smoking will also be banned in public areas in the hotels but there will be a designated outdoor area at each property for guests who smoke.
There are already 70 Sheraton and Four Points by Sheraton hotels in the U.S., Canada & Caribbean that are smoke-free. Both hotel brands expect to be completely smoke-free in the U.S. and Canada by Dec. 31.

Keep your fingers crossed for a change in 2008!