Reducing the tobacco use rates of New Hampshire residents, through the use of evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies, is a public health priority in New Hampshire.

Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States and New Hampshire. The Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (TPCP) is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is dedicated to the implementation of a comprehensive program designed to reduce the prevalence and consumption of tobacco use in New Hampshire.

The Program's primary goals are to: prevent NH youth from beginning to use tobacco; eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke; promote quitting tobacco among users; and prioritize efforts to reach those most affected by tobacco.

TPCP carries out a number of strategies to achieve its goals:

• Conducts surveys to measure tobacco use among New Hampshire residents, as well as to monitor attitudes, knowledge and practices regarding tobacco use in New Hampshire.
• Monitors compliance with the NH Indoor Smoking Act.
• Provides training and assistance with implementation of systems change for Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence at NH Healthcare facilities following Best Practice in US Department of Health and Human Services Clinical Practice Guidelines. Learn more at www.QuitWorksNH.org.
• Provides education to the public and to health care providers on a variety of tobacco use and dependency topics ranging from helping addicted tobacco users to seek treatment via the NH Tobacco Helpline (1-800-QUIT-NOW) to preventing youth from starting to use tobacco.

2012 Surgeon General's Report: Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults

This report details the scope, health consequences and influences that lead to youth tobacco use and proven strategies that prevent its use.

To help communicate the report findings and steps every American can take to join the fight against youth tobacco use, the surgeon general also unveiled a guide with practical information on addressing tobacco use in young people, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: We Can Make the Next Generation Tobacco-Free. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health will launch the Surgeon General’s Video Challenge to engage youth and young adults in developing original videos that feature one or more of the report’s findings. More information can be found at www.Challenge.gov.

Copies of the full Report, executive summary, and the easy-to-read guide may be downloaded at http://www.surgeongeneral.gov. To order printed copies of these documents go to http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco and click on the Publications Catalog link under Tools & Resources. For access to quitting resources visit www.smokefree.gov.

2010 How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease
A Report of the Surgeon General

Exposure to tobacco smoke – even occasional smoking or secondhand smoke – causes immediate damage to your body that can lead to serious illness or death, according to a report released by U.S. Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin. The comprehensive scientific report – Benjamin's first Surgeon General's report and the 30th tobacco-related Surgeon General's report issued since 1964 – describes pathways by which tobacco smoke damages the human body and leads to disease and death.

The report, How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease, finds that cellular damage and tissue inflammation from tobacco smoke are immediate, and that repeated exposure weakens the body's ability to heal the damage.