From the Executive Director

The registration deadline is quickly approaching for our tobacco-free schools workshop on April 11th. Please sign up soon! You can sign up online here. The workshop will feature Mark Ezzell, Tobacco-Free Schools Director for the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund, as well as a variety of knowledgeable speakers who are working to bring tobacco-free schools to Ohio. Thanks to the efforts of many of you, Ohio's schools are gradually becoming tobacco-free, one district at a time. Just this week, the Board of Education for Ashtabula City Schools (in Ashtabula County) is considering a 100% tobacco-free schools policy.

On a separate topic, a few people have asked us about how to strengthen smoke-free ordinances to deal with repeat violators. Although communities generally have great success in enforcing smoke-free ordinances, there is sometimes a small group of businesses that refuses to comply even after several complaints and citations. These repeat violators undermine respect for the law and continue to subject their patrons and employees to the harmful effects of secondhand smoke. The Tobacco Public Policy Center has created a fact sheet which discusses options for strengthening existing smoke-free ordinances. You can download the fact sheet here.

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