Public health professionals are increasingly needed and expected to have a role in advocacy
efforts. Imagine you have received an action alert from your local public health association
asking you to contact your state senator and urge the lawmaker to support a bill that
would raise the legal age to purchase tobacco to 21 years of age. How would you respond to
the action alert? Refer to tips and suggestions provided by the American Public Health
Association (APHA) Advocacy for Public Health webpage. What strategy or approaches
would you implement to ensure effective communication with your state senator on this
issue?
In response to the action alert from my local public health association to contact the state senator,
I would apply approaches such as a letter informing him about the need to raise the legal age for
purchasing tobacco to 21 years. In the letter, I would highlight the health risks associated with
the use of tobacco, especially for the younger generation and the public in general. These would
be coupled with the indication of the morbidity and mortality rates recorded within the local care
facilities and throughout the federal as well as state institutions (APHA, 2020). Most
fundamentally, I would emphasize the consideration of the findings, reports, and cases identified
and those highlighted by different researchers as well as enterprises regarding the effects
associated with the use of tobacco among individuals below 21 years.
Subsequently, through the letter, I would highlight some of the causative factors driving
teenagers and young adults to the use and access of tobacco within the state. For instance, I
would incorporate the findings indicated in various research initiatives to portray how most
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teenagers have developed a negative perception that smoking or using tobacco would help them
escape from their social challenges. These are followed closely by the belief that they can stop
smoking tobacco any time they please. As such, I would highlight the side effects and
misconceptions associated with the use of tobacco among the population and indicate various
instances of individuals who indulged in the harmful behavior, and their current state of affairs
(APHA, 2020). Among the effects of tobacco use entails addiction to the toxic habit that leads to
dependence on the substance and further contributes to the development of severe health
conditions. Therefore, based on such factors, I would the state senator and other relevant
stakeholders, as well as policymakers, to support a bill that raises the legal age of purchasing
tobacco to 21 years.
References
APHA. (2020). Advocacy for Public Health- American Public Health Association.