Tobacco: Availability Decreases Throughout the County as Inspire Program Unfolds

Ken Yeager, Supervisor Santa Clara County

Featuring Michele Lew, President and CEO of Asian Americans for Community Involvement, Denis Acha, the programs director at Breathe California, and Janelle Abriani of Santa Clara County's Inspire program. Produced by Kaitlin Kervorkin.

Good health is often something that we take for granted. Yet each move we make, or don’t make, can greatly affect our long-term health. Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager is aware of this issue. “I understand the value of health… and the great feeling that health gives you,” he says. This, he says, has been his motivation to become involved at the policy level to better the health of Santa Clara County.

Yeager is working to improve the overall health of the county through a $6.9 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which funded the Inspire Tobacco Prevention Program. By 2012, the two-year program's deadline, the goal is to decrease tobacco-related morbidity and mortality in Santa Clara County. This deadline puts pressure on the county to move quickly, yet efficiently. Working quickly in a government setting isn’t always ideal, according to Yeager. Government policies take time.

Within the Inspire Program, media, or hard-hitting counter-advertising to tobacco promotion, is an important thrust. Media is a way in which to reach a majority of the population as well as address the issue of language barriers while still educating the public, according to Yeager.

Dennis Achá, director of programs at Breathe California of the Bay Area, stresses the importance of multilingual programs. Achá is heavily involved in the prevention of lung disease on an organizational level. Having programs or advertisements offered in multiple languages “helps a lot with relating to the people,” he says. The public is “more likely to grasp the messages” of the organization or policy if they can understand the language.

Limiting the availability of tobacco is another large concern of the Inspire Program. A strict licensing law passed in 2010, for instance, restricts the sale of tobacco within 1,000 feet of any school in unincorporated areas of the county, while also increasing tobacco sales permit fees.

Another area of emphasis targets those in need of support while quitting or after quitting tobacco. These activities, as Yeager explains, don’t target a specific ethnic group, gender or age. Rather they focus on reaching out to the community as a whole. Preventing the easy access to tobacco is the first step to decreasing use within the community, he says.

While Yeager’s primary focus is the Inspire Program, he is also heavily involved with CalTrain and is working with the county to continue the policies he helped pass. Additionally he is a huge advocate for healthier vending machines, extending the trail system through San Jose, and annual community runs and walks. Yeager is an active runner, often participating in marathons, and has recently taken up triathlons. Yeager has always been passionate about the health of others and says, “Improving people's lives, that is as good of a purpose to be in government as any.” Once a smoker himself, Yeager knows the struggles one faces when it comes to quitting. This is one of his main motivations because he knows “how much better life is without smoking," he says, adding that he is determined to give people their lungs back.