Make a Difference
WHS students lead panel discussion on tobacco use

By Melanie Marshall

Nearly 40 students gathered at Watauga High School last week for the Making a Difference program focusing on tobacco-use prevention.

During the week the students studied public speaking, data collection and tobacco statistics before going out into the community.

Rising freshman Vance Langdon served as the moderator for Friday’s panel discussion. Photo by Melanie Marshall

The program ended Friday with a panel discussion held at the WHS media center hosted by the participants. Student Vance Langdon served as the moderator for the discussion.

The students broke into groups to gather information on various topics, including conducting a survey; examining public places for ashtrays and cigarette litter; Operation Storefront, which examines product placements and speaking directly to store cashiers; researching the electronic cigarette; and new legislation which charges the Food and Drug Administration with the regulation of tobacco.

The first group went out onto King Street to ask pedestrians to participate in a short survey. A.J. Fuller presented the information collected from the 64 people interviewed. Of the survey respondents, Fuller reported 50 percent were Watauga residents, 73 percent were bothered by secondhand smoke, 16 percent were smokers and 97 percent said they plan to eat at more restaurants after the passage of House Bill 2, state legislation banning tobacco use in restaurants and bars.

Jesse Main presented information on behalf of the environmental group. These students went to Regal Cinemas, Boone United Methodist Church, Boone Mall, Junaluska Park, Watauga County Library and Horn in the West. They evaluated the placement and size of no smoking signs, the placement of outdoor ashtrays in relation to the main entrance and the number of cigarette butts on the ground. The students also spoke to the managers of some of the businesses and made recommendations to improve the encouragement of a smoke-free atmosphere.

One group of students went to multiple businesses that sell tobacco products for Operation Storefront. Brian Opatosky represented Operation Storefront on the panel. The students noted advertising placements in the stores and spoke directly to cashiers about the color-coding of driver’s licenses as a quick age reference. Opatosky reported most cashiers were friendly and listened to the students’ presentation.

Ana Wilkinson presented the research findings on the newly marketed electronic cigarette. The product looks like a cigarette and the user inhales a heated mist of nicotine as opposed to smoke. Wilkinson addressed the pros and cons of the e-cigarette as there is no secondhand smoke, the e-cigarette can be used in many places regular cigarettes are banned, but still carries health risks and may be appeal to teens.

Kelly Greene spoke during the panel discussion on recent legislation turning over tobacco regulation to the Food and Drug Administration. The labels of “low,” “light” or “mild” will be banned, as will all flavors except menthol. Warning labels are expected to be made larger and more graphic.

The community members who joined the students as guest panelist were Margaret Watkins of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health and Boone mayor Loretta Clawson.
Watkins spoke of the importance of WHS is to the statewide and national movement in tobacco prevention and control. The schools WHAT Club (Watauga High Against Tobacco) was the first of its kind in North Carolina.

Clawson spoke her personal experience growing up in a home with her father who smoked. As a child, she suffered from asthma, though it no longer affects her. Clawson told the students both her father and father-in-law died from smoking-related illnesses, both at 65 years old. She encouraged the students to continue their fight against tobacco use and said the town is looking into what can be done by way of ordinances and stricter regulation.

Watauga County commissioner Winston Kinsey addressed the students following the panel discussion. Smoking is prohibited on all county-owned property. Kinsey said he believed the county, as well as the country, was becoming more aware of the problems associated with tobacco use.

Mayor Pro-Tem Lynne Mason was also present for the panel and spoke the students afterward. Mason said she is looking forward to the day when the parks in town could be made smoke free.
Final speaker Watauga County Sheriff Len Hagaman praised the commissioners for making the detention center a smoke-free facility. Nicotine is a powerful drug, he said, and some of the people who come into the detention suffer the withdraw effects. There a part-time physician on staff at the detention center and inmates are guided through the withdraw.

Making a Difference is funded though the N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund and is hosted each summer by the Watauga County School’s Tobacco Prevention Program lead by Dana Holden.