Health Department

Tobacco Toolkit:

KCHD offers a Knox County Tobacco Prevention Training for employers, which will benefit anyone who serves people using commercial tobacco, from healthcare professionals to social workers to school staff.

Smoke-Free Tennessee:

The Tennessee Non-Smokers Protection Act of 2007 allows Tennesseans to breathe smoke-free at numerous restaurants, hotels and many other indoor establishments. Click here to learn more about this law or if you have any questions about complying with the Tennessee Non-Smokers Protection Act, please call 1-800-293-8228.

Resources for Creating a Smoke-free Workplace

A free resource for guidance on implementing a tobacco-free workplace can be found here.

Tips for practitioners:

• Behavioral Health: 1/5 adults have a mental illness and 36% of those with a mental illness smoke cigarettes. Quitting helps with depression, anxiety, stress and mood.
• Tobacco Education Resource Library: features resources for public health practitioners.

Why Do Kids Start Using Tobacco?

• Parents, social pressure, advertising, stigma—there are different reasons a young person might try tobacco. Learn the reasons why some kids start and how to help them be tobacco-free.
• My Vaping Mistake: Videos of Real Teen Experiences
• Learn how you can quit smoking and still be social.
• Tobacco Triggers

Tips for Talking to Kids About Smoking

• Smoking is glamorized in movies, television shows and online, but parents are the most important influences in their children's lives.

• Start talking to your kids about smoking when they are 5 or 6 years old and continue through their high school years. Many kids start smoking by age 11 and some are addicted by age 14. Explain the health dangers of smoking, as well as the unpleasant physical aspects (such as bad breath, discolored teeth and nails).
• If you're a parent who smokes, the best thing you can do is to quit. Talk to your kids about how difficult it is to quit smoking and how much easier it would have been if you'd never started smoking in the first place. In the meantime, don't smoke around your children and don’t ever let them have any of your cigarettes.
• Find out if your children have any friends that smoke or vape. Talk with your kids about ways to refuse a cigarette or e-cigarette.
• If you catch your teen smoking or vaping, avoid threats and ultimatums. Ask a few questions and find out why your child is smoking or vaping; they may want to be accepted by a peer group or want your attention. Talk about what changes can be made in your teen’s life to help them stop smoking.