Community Tobacco Survey, 2004 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2004

Contact:
Ted Schiele
Tompkins County Health Department
274-6712   tschiele@tompkins-co.org

OR
Jennifer Hamilton
Cortland County Health Department
758-5501   jhamilton@cortland-co.org
 

Local tobacco groups plan survey of area residents.

A survey of tobacco use, attitudes and perceptions will be conducted among Tompkins and Cortland County residents beginning later this month. The Tobacco Control Coalitions of Tompkins and Cortland Counties are conducting the telephone survey to obtain information that will help guide the coalitions' activities in the coming years. Watertown, NY-based Joel LaLone Consulting, a specialist in community studies, has been contracted to administer the survey. The survey was developed with the Tobacco Surveillance, Evaluation and Research Team of the New York State Department of Health in Albany. The same survey will be conducted in Cayuga, Madison, Onondaga and Oswego counties, and will be repeated in one year.

The tobacco survey of adults living in Tompkins and Cortland counties will run from May 23 to June 7, 2004. Four hundred randomly selected residents from each county will be polled by telephone. Questions will cover topics such as tobacco marketing and promotion, the state's clean indoor air law, and use of tobacco products. The survey call will take about five minutes.

Participation in the survey is voluntary and individuals may decline to answer particular questions, may discontinue the survey at any time, or decline to take the survey altogether. The survey is completely anonymous and all calls will remain strictly confidential. The survey taker will review this information at the beginning of their call.

The Tobacco Control Coalitions of Tompkins and Cortland Counties are funded by a grant from the New York State Tobacco Control Program. The mission of the state Tobacco Control Program is to reduce morbidity and mortality and alleviate the social and economic burden caused by tobacco use in New York State. Recent coalition activities in Tompkins and Cortland Counties have focused on public awareness and understanding of the state's expanded clean indoor air law, working with schools to teach about the health risks of tobacco use, and promoting quit-smoking programs and options. For more information about the Tompkins County coalition or about the tobacco survey, call Ted Schiele at the Tompkins County Health Department at 274-6712, write tschiele@tompkins-co.org. Cortland County residents contact Jennifer Hamilton at the Cortland County Health Department at 758-5501 or jhamilton@cortland-co.org. The Tompkins County coalition maintains a web site at www.tompkins-co.org/wellness/tobaccofree/.

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