The Power of People's Voices for Smoke Free Public Policies

Audience:

The Power of People’s Voices for Smoke Free Public Policies presentation is designed to inform tobacco control advocates about an award winning, innovative grassroots campaign that can be implemented on the local  or state level for smoke free public policies for public places, workplaces and casinos.

Key Points:

Too often we get absorbed by the science and research of tobacco control and forget to use what may be our most powerful advocacy tool: the power of people's stories. Untold grief, hope, and passion of real people are contained in every mortality statistic. Soliciting these stories and combining them with facts creates a powerful grassroots advocacy force that brings new salience to the tobacco control debate. Recent clean air efforts in Kansas and Missouri prove the power of voice.

The Voices campaign in Kansas and Missouri utilized a phone service to record thousands of voter stories  on how secondhand smoke impacted their lives. The Kansas recordings were distributed to  targeted lawmakers, contributing to the 2010 statewide smoke-free law.  In Kansas City, the personal stories are being used in an ongoing smoke-free casino campaign.

Educational Experience:

A Voices campaign works best in the context of a larger advocacy campaign involving online advocacy, traditional Web, media and social media, direct lobbying and coordinated public health partners.

Benefits:

Learn about a proven advocacy tool that was part of a successful grassroots effort to establish a statewide smoking ban in Kansas.  The innovative tool can also address issues at the local level such as smoke-free casinos.