Alaska Resources Hub

Schools and districts want all staff to be tobacco and nicotine free and may want to share resources. 

• How to Help People Quit Free, one-hour online course to enhance understanding of tobacco cessation, behavior change, and the interventions and treatment needed to help people quit for good. 
• Alaska Tobacco Quit Line  Free to Alaskans and offers access to free telephone, web and text-based support to quit tobacco. You can call as often as you like and are eligible to receive four pro-active support calls from a quit coach. Alaska’s Tobacco Quit Line offers free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to all Alaskans who enroll in the program. NRT is available even if you are uninsured or without coverage from your health plan. To enroll, call Alaska’s Tobacco Quit Line at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669), text READY to 34191, or visit the link above.

Many schools and districts find that their tobacco policies need review and could potentially benefit from updating. The Lung Association can provide detailed policy and student handbook analysis and recommend updates to make any policy more complete and able to withstand future product changes and innovations. Listed below are some of the resources available to support schools and districts in achieving and maintaining tobacco free campuses.

• Policy Change Resource Toolkit Customized resources to help schools and districts update their vaping and tobacco policies. Includes a policy change guide outlining a 6-step process to update a school tobacco policy along with a set of resources to help with each step in the process.
• American Lung Association’s Campaign Guide More on how to update or create a comprehensive tobacco and nicotine free campus policy.

The CDC has estimated that 99% of adult cigarette smokers first start smoking before age 26 years and many smokers transition to regular, daily use during young adulthood colleges and universities represent an important venue for protecting students, faculty, staff members, and guests from secondhand smoke exposure through tobacco control policies.

• Post-Secondary Education Model Policy

Studies have also found that levels of secondhand smoke exposure outdoors can reach levels recognized as hazardous, depending on direction and amount of wind, number and proximity of smokers, and enclosures such as walls or roofs. Smokefree policies help individuals who are trying to quit, by eliminating the sight and smell of smoke. As with all smokefree policies, these measures send a message to children and youth that tobacco use is not an acceptable behavior or a norm in the community.

• Smoke and Tobacco Free Events Guide for Alaskans 
• Smokefree Outdoor Spaces & Rec Areas Policies & Model Policy

• Addressing Tobacco Use in the Black Community Toolkit 
• Addressing Tobacco Use in Hispanic or Latino Communities Toolkit:  English | Spanish
• Addressing Commercial Tobacco Use in Indigenous Communities Toolkit  
• Protect Lung Health for Military Veterans and Contractors

• Integrating Tobacco Use Dependency Treatment in Behavioral Health Settings   
• Behavioral Health & Tobacco Dependency: Integrating Treatment into Behavioral Health Facilities     
• Million Hearts Tobacco Cessation Change Package
• Alaska Brief Tobacco Intervention: Helping Alaskans Quit
• Alaska’s Tobacco Quitline