BPHC Takes to the Streets with Tobacco Quit Kits. Find out Why.
Evan Litwin (left), Angela Halsted, Burlington School District SAP (center), and Mariah Flynn (right) tabling at Pride Vermont festival in September.
September was National Recovery Month, which focused on supporting evidence-based treatment and recovery practices and honoring the people who work to make recovery possible. It also marks a time to highlight the intersection of mental health and addiction recovery. We know that our mental health as well as how supported and safe we feel has an impact on a person’s likelihood of using and misusing harmful substances.
A myth that we sometimes hear is that using tobacco products is “not as bad” or “the least harmful” compared to other substances that people in recovery have misused. At face value, that feels reasonable considering the risk of overdose with dangerous controlled or illegal substances. What the data actually shows is that tobacco use is still the #1 cause of preventable death in the US. In fact, tobacco use is one of 3 behaviors, causing 4 chronic diseases, that are leading to 50% of all deaths in Vermont and quitting smoking actually has a positive effect on other substance use outcomes. One NIH study we read said, “Smoking cessation advice should be offered, without hesitation, to smokers who report substance use and those in treatment for substance use disorder.”
Quitting tobacco is not easy and the tobacco industry knows that. Research shows that it can take an average of 6 attempts to successfully quit using tobacco products. BPHC is engaged in many strategies to support tobacco prevention and cessation. One that was popular this year was our “Quit Kits.” Staff and volunteers have assembled over 500 kits this year for different populations that include things like 802Quits materials, distraction tools to help manage cravings, handwritten notes of encouragement and other supplies known to improve success rates. We are so grateful to the many volunteers and partners who showed up this year to stuff kits and write personal notes by hand!
You may have seen us giving out these quit kits at various community events and activities this year. In September our staff were excited to support our partners at the Turning Point Recovery Center’s Rave for Recovery in City Hall park to give out kits and help dispel those myths about quitting tobacco in recovery!
This year we also partnered with Pride Center of Vermont, Turning Point, and Outright Vermont to design LGBTQ+ quit kits specifically for the queer and trans community. At this September’s Pride Festival we gave away 200 kits. Our Director Mariah noted, “It was so inspiring to see how many people came up to our table motivated to make a quit attempt or to pick up a kit to help them keep up their recent quit. It was also incredibly frustrating to see first hand the impact of how the tobacco industry has targeted the Queer community.” It is true that LGBTQ+ Vermonters have higher rates of tobacco usage than cisgender and heterosexual Vermonters. Learn more about why from our recent memo available on our website.
One of our Pride Center partners shared that the kits have been popular and “…offer visual and sensorial moments of mindfulness for folx in the contemplation stages of quitting and on many occasions have caused folx to engage in dialogue about their tobacco addiction, resistance, or their attempts to lower use or for cessation. For myself, that is a really impactful aspect that the quit kits and items have on the larger LGBTQ+ community.”
We love being a part of the solution to support Burlingtonians in achieving their health goals. We are always seeking volunteers to help us assemble kits, so please contact us if you want to support this work. If you are interested in getting kits for your own staff or consumers at a Burlington business or organization reach out to us to learn more.
