News and Events

Learn About the Mission of the Tobacco Free Partnership of Dixie County!

The Mission of the Tobacco Free Partnership (TFP) of Dixie County is to protect our community from the dangers of inhaled nicotine products and secondhand smoke exposure through evidence-based tobacco prevention and cessation strategies with an emphasis on youth and other disparate populations. Our work is guided by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs, as mandated by the Florida Constitution.

Best Practices of prevention strategies include preventing initiation of tobacco use among youth and young adults, promoting quit attempts among adults and youth, eliminating secondhand smoke exposure, and identifying and eliminating tobacco-related disparities among certain populations.

Key in achieving this is our local Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) groups. Group of youth meet to regularly to mobilize their peers and deglamorize Big-Tobacco. In our county we have 3 groups and 50 members, and we regularly participate in local events to recruit more youth members. Dixie County High School SWAT are planning to present to the 8th grade classes on tobacco, nicotine and for recruitment for the SWAT club.  They are also preparing for a training in the new year that will prepare them for speaking to the Dixie County School Board about the need for a Tobacco and Vape policy.

Our newsletter outlines some of the work our youth and our Tobacco Free Partnership does in our community and is aligned with CDC Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program. For more information on CDC Best Practices, visit https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/stateandcommunity/guides/index.htm

Another key element of prevention strategies is to build partnerships and strengthen coalitions. Comprehensive statewide tobacco control programs must coordinate community-level interventions that counter tobacco industry marketing and mobilize communities to ultimately lead to social norm and behavior changes. Our partnership and its’ members are a key part in making this change and educating the public about the broader context of tobacco related diseases, which can further mobilize public support for tobacco-free policies.
 
The TFP of Dixie County consists of 17 members across multiple sectors such department of health, the Dixie Anti-Drug Coalition, the Chamber of Commerce, the Dixie Education Foundation, and SWAT youth. We know grassroots efforts of our community help implement policy interventions, and to that end we are continually seeking to expand our partnership. We advertise regularly in local media to recruit new members and raise awareness of our work.

The TFP of Dixie County is governed by a signed bylaws that states the mission statement, vision, the goals, articles of name, charter, contract manager, membership, executive committee, officers, meetings, committees, amendments and proxy votes. Each year the bylaws are reviewed by the chair, co-chair and two youth representatives prior to the second quarter meeting and signed into adoption. 

Our newsletter outlines the work we do in our community and is aligned with CDC Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program. For more information on CDC Best Practices, visit https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/stateandcommunity/guides/index.htm