November 25, 1997

Contact: Bonnie Widerburg, (971) 673-1282

Technical Contact: Jane Moore, (971) 673-1032

Tobacco Prevention Ads Begin Airing

(PORTLAND) Beginning the week of November 24 the Oregon Health Services, through its Tobacco Prevention and Education Program, begins airing tobacco prevention ads on commercial and cable television stations in Oregon.

These ads focus on the program's themes of tobacco prevention, dangers of tobacco use, harm of secondhand smoke and benefits of cessation. All of the spots, which were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Media Campaign Resource Center for Tobacco Control, were tested in focus groups throughout Oregon.

"Airing these ads is an early, effective step prior to the tobacco program's statewide awareness and education campaign that begins early next year," says Jane Moore, health promotion and chronic disease prevention manager at the Health Services.

In November 1996, Oregon voters approved a tobacco tax increase through Ballot Measure 44, which directed a portion of the tax to the Health Services for the implementation of a statewide tobacco prevention and education program.