Newsletter: Walsh County Health District & WIC

W I N T E R 2 0 1 8

STAFF

Wanda Kratochvil, RN Administrator

Donna Holand, LPN

Carly Ostenrude, RN

Sharon Laxdal, RN, Tobacco Prevention Crd.

Betsy Thompson, RD, LRD, WIC Director

Ashley Johnson, WIC Specialist

Walsh County Health District & WIC

638 Cooper Ave– Suite 3

Grafton, ND 58237

701-352-5139

Fax 701-352-5074

www.walshcountynd.com/health

UPCOMING

EVENTS:

Immunization Days

~January 10th, 2018

~February 14th, 2018

~March 14th , 2018

Car Seat Checks

~February 1st , 2018

from 4:30 to 6 pm at

Hanson’s Auto Body,

call for appointment.

WALSH COUNTY

WIC HOURS:

~Mon -Thurs. 8:30 am to

4:30 pm.

~Closed 12 to 12:30 for

lunch.

~Closed Fridays and Hol-

idays.

For information on Public

Health services provided

to Walsh County resi-

dents visit our Public

Health & WIC page at:

www.walshcountynd.

com/health

CELEBRATING

10 YEARS

The Walsh County Tobacco-Free Coalition will be host-

ing a celebration in honor of their 10 years as an active

coalition. This event will take place on Thursday Janu-

ary 25th, at Elmwood in Grafton. Hors d’oeuvres will be

served at 4pm followed by a short program. Guest

speakers include Heather Austin, Executive Director,

Tobacco Free North Dakota and Neil Charvat, Tobacco

Prevention and Control Program Director. The after-

noon will close with dessert and coffee.

All interested community members are encouraged to

attend as well as all current and former coalition mem-

bers. For planning purposes, please let us know that you

are planning to attend. You may contact Walsh County

Health District at 352-5139 or e-mail Sharon Laxdal at

slaxdal@nd.gov.

Our current membership is 43, with new members al-

ways welcome. Our mission is to improve and protect

the health of Walsh County residents by reducing the

negative health and economic consequences of North

Dakota’s number one cause of preventable disease and

death – tobacco use. If you are interested in becoming a

member, please contact Sharon Laxdal.

Congratulations to Graf-

ton Drug on becoming

the first Walsh County

business to be a desig-

nated infant-friendly

workplace! We thank

you for being a positive

role model for our com-

munity! The Walsh

County Health District

has received a grant from

the North Dakota Com-

prehensive Cancer Con-

trol Program to help

businesses become a

designated infant-

friendly workplaces.

Being a designated in-

fant-friendly workplace

has several advantages

such as being a role

model business for our

community, a positive

benefit for future appli-

cants and current em-

ployees, and helps keep

our mothers and children

healthy. Businesses can

also get their names

listed on the ND Depart-

ment of Health website.

The process is simple

and consists of creating a

policy and applying to

become a designated in-

fant-friendly workplace.

Walsh County Health

District is here to help

you create and put a pol-

icy into place, and to as-

sist you with the applica-

tion for designation. If

you’re interested in be-

coming a designated

infant-friendly work-

place please call Walsh

County Health District at

701-352-5139.

Grafton Drug Staff

GRAFTON DRUG

Is a Designated Infant Friendly Workplace

P A G E 3 P A G E 2 W A L S H C O U N T Y H E A L T H & W I C

You may not know it, but substance

abuse is taking a big bite out of your

wallet. It’s costing you…and every

other person in America…nearly

two thousand dollars a year.

That adds up to a whopping one

point four billion dollars in North

Dakota. .

What exactly is substance abuse?

Some people enjoy sharing a beer or

glass of wine with friends and fami-

ly. And sometimes we take medicine

to help us feel better when we’re

sick or in pain…But when we drink

too much, or drink too young, or

take medications for the wrong rea-

sons in amounts not recommended

by a doctor…that’s when substance

use becomes substance abuse.

So why should YOU care?

Even though it’s legal for those

over 21, alcohol is the most

commonly abused and de-

structive drug in our state.

There are more deaths from al-

cohol than from all other ille-

gal drugs combined.

Alcohol abuse is a major con-

tributing factor to crime and

incarceration.

And on average, one alcohol re-

lated crash occurs every 8.9

hours.

People who start drinking before

age 15 are four times more

likely to become addicted

than those who wait until

they’re 21…And because an

adolescent’s brain is still de-

veloping, alcohol can seri-

ously damage the parts of the

brain that influence decision

making, learning, memory

and impulse control.

61 people died from a drug over-

dose in ND in 2015.

People addicted to prescription

pain killers are 40x more

likely to become addicted to

heroin.

So what is Prevention?

It’s preventing problems before

they occur by creating an

environment that promotes

health and well-being.

Prevention is not treating an al-

ready existing problem.

Prevention experts today advocate a

mix of community-specific strate-

gies that focus on the individual and

creating an environment that sup-

ports healthy behavior.

So what are the most effective pre-

vention strategies?

One of them is to enhance poli-

cies and ensure they are en-

forced. For example, when

the price of alcoholic bever-

ages goes up, consumption

often goes down, especially

among high-risk groups like

heavy drinkers, adolescents

and young adults. Studies

also show higher penalties

for DUIs mean fewer crash-

es and more saved lives.

Another effective strategy is to

train servers and retailers on

ways to avoid illegally sell-

ing alcohol to underage

youth and intoxicated cus-

tomers.

These environmental prevention

strategies can create big changes

over time…changes that can save

lives. Change can happen. But it’s

never easy…especially when trying

to shift a cultural norm. It takes

time, persistence and big-time col-

laboration. Communities are com-

ing together and recognizing that

investing in substance abuse preven-

tion is important. In fact, it is one of

the best investments we can make in

our state’s future – creating safe and

healthy individuals, families and

communities.

On Nov. 26th, 2017 the major U.S.

tobacco companies had to start run-

ning ads locally and nationally telling

the American people the truth about

the deadly consequences of smoking

and secondhand smoke.

A federal court in 2006 ordered the

companies to make these “corrective

statements” after finding them guilty

of breaking civil racketeering laws

and lying to the public about the dan-

gers of smoking and how they market-

ed to children. The ads will finally run

after 11 years of appeals by the tobac-

co companies aimed at weakening and

delaying the statements.

Public health advocates welcome the

corrective statement ads because they

will focus attention on the enormous

public health problem caused by to-

bacco use and the need for strong ac-

tion to save lives. To reduce tobacco

use, advocates are calling state/city

officials to increase the state’s tobacco

tax, raise the sale age of tobacco prod-

ucts to 21, and support funding for

tobacco prevention and cessation pro-

grams.

These ads serve as a reminder that to-

bacco’s terrible toll is no accident. It

is caused directly by the deceptive and

even illegal practices of the tobacco

industry. These ads should inspire our

elected officials to stand up to the to-

bacco industry and take strong correc-

tive action to reduce tobacco use and

save lives in North Dakota.

According to Campaign for Tobacco-

Free Kids, in North Dakota alone, an-

nually tobacco use claims 1,000 lives

and costs the state $756 per capita on

direct medical expenditures and lost

productivity due to smoking.

In 1999, the U.S. Department of Jus-

tice sued the major cigarette manufac-

turers. On Aug. 17, 2006, U.S. Dis-

trict Judge Gladys Kessler issued her

verdict against the companies. In a

1,683-page final opinion, she detailed

how the tobacco companies “have

marketed and sold their lethal prod-

ucts with zeal, with deception, with a

singled-minded focus on their finan-

cial success, and without regard for

the human tragedy or social costs that

success exacted.” Importantly, Judge

Kessler concluded, “The evi-

dence in this case clearly es-

tablishes that Defendants have

not ceased engaging in unlaw-

ful activity.”

Judge Kessler ordered the to-

bacco companies to publish

corrective statements on five

topics about which they had deliber-

ately deceived the public:

the adverse health effects of smok-

ing;

addictiveness of smoking and nic-

otine;

lack of significant health benefit

from smoking “low tar,” “light,”

“ultra light,” “mild” and “natural” cig-

arettes (products that have been de-

ceptively marketed as less harmful

than regular cigarettes);

manipulation of cigarette design

and composition to ensure optimum

nicotine delivery; and

adverse health effects of exposure

to secondhand smoke.

It is a step forward that Big Tobacco

has been forced to issue these long-

overdue corrective statements, but it’s

far from enough. The tobacco compa-

nies claim they’ve changed, but the

facts show that they continue to mar-

ket their deadly products to kids and

they continue to fight the most effec-

tive policies to reduce smoking and

other tobacco use.

The corrective statement ads started

running Nov. 26 in print and online.

They will also run during prime time

on the major television networks for

one year. The tobacco companies

must also publish the corrective state-

ments on their websites and cigarette

packs.

Photo by Sue Matcha, courtesy of

The Walsh County Record

Walsh County Health

District was awarded a

Substance Abuse Preven-

tion Grant from the

Department of Human

Services in Nov 2017

Tobacco Companies Must

Finally Tell Public

The Truth about Their Lethal

Products – 11 Years After a

Court Ordered It