About Us

History of the Lake Geauga Ashtabula Tobacco Prevention Coalition

The Lake County General Health District was involved in tobacco prevention initiatives as early as 1993. The District received funds from the Ohio Department of Health for the Eat, Breathe, and Dine Smoke Free Campaign and to conduct tobacco compliance checks. Tobacco-Free Ohio also funded a Secondhand Smoke Awareness Campaign.

In 1995, the Lake County General Health District, in conjunction with the Lake Hospital Systems, conducted a community wide health needs assessment. Results of the assessment showed that tobacco use was a major concern of county residents. The Lake County General Health District took the lead in bringing together representatives from various organizations including Lake Hospital Systems, Crossroads, and the Lake Geauga Recovery Centers, the Lake County Tobacco Prevention Coalition was formed.

The Lake County Coalition continued to conduct tobacco compliance checks, provide speakers as well as training teachers and other prevention specialists in the American Cancer Society’s Stay Tobacco-Free Athlete Mentor Program (STAMP) and Not on Tobacco (NOT) youth cessation program. The Coalition also assisted the American Cancer Society in conducting the local campaign for the Great American Smoke Out in November and with Tobacco Free Kids’ Kick Butts Day in April.

With the leadership of the Geauga County Health District, a Geauga County Tobacco Coalition was organized in 1997. Ravenwood Mental Health Center, the Lake Geauga Recovery Centers, Geauga County Educational Service Center, the American Cancer Society and Chardon Local Schools were among the original members of the Geauga County Tobacco Prevention Coalition. The Geauga Coalition provided tobacco compliance checks, supported the Great American Smoke Out, and Kick Butts Day.

Lake and Geauga Counties have a well established history of networking and collaborating in mental health and substance abuse prevention and in 2000 the two Coalitions combined to form the Lake Geauga Tobacco Prevention Coalition.

The Ashtabula County Tobacco Free Coalition was formed in 1997 by a group of local agencies, hospitals, law enforcement and Kent State University. In 1997, the coalition was helpful in Geneva gaining the Youth Possession and Tobacco Vendor licensure ordinance. This was one of the first ordinances of its kind in the state of Ohio. In 2002 the Coalition helped the Ashtabula City Health Department obtain a tobacco vendor licensure ordinance in the City of Ashtabula. The Coalition has sponsored TATU (Teens Against Tobacco Use) peer prevention training. In 2003, joined with the MCAT (Mahoning, Columbiana, Ashtabula, Trumbull) East End Tobacco Prevention Coalition. Ashtabula County pulled out of the grant the end of 2005 due to programming differences.

The Coalition surveyed the Lake Geauga county restaurants to see if they were smokefree. We then published a booklet of all the smoke free restaurants in the county. The smokefree restaurants were given a certificate and a smoke free dining window decal. When the new teen possession law came into effect, the Coalition published a flyer about the new law to distribute all over the county.

The Coalition participated in tobacco vendor compliance checks. Young people ages 14-16 were sent into tobacco vendors to see if the vendor would check ID and sell cigarettes. In 2002, the coalition took part in the youth tobacco surveys at three county schools.

In January 2007 the Ashtabula County Tobacco Free Coalition joined with the Lake Geauga Tobacco Prevention Coalition as we are geographically closer and had similar goals to Lake Geauga Tobacco Prevention Coalition

The major accomplishment of the combined Coalition has been five years of grant funding from the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation (OTPF). The Lake Geauga Recovery Centers is the fiscal agent for the grant, allowing Coalition members to provide a wide range of cessation as well as prevention programs. These include: brief interventions of patients identified as smokers at Lake Hospital Systems, providing the advisors for youth stand teams in Lake and Ashtabula Counties, working towards 100% tobacco free school and workplace sites, promoting the Ohio Quit Line and teaching Life Skills in several Lake County school districts.

The Lake Geauga Ashtabula Tobacco Prevention Coalition will continue to provide high quality professional cessation and prevention services to the residents of our three counties.