Prevention:

No Butts Left Behind:

• In concert with a local media firm, developed communication campaigns addressing the problem of cigarette butt litter in Santa Barbara County, specifically at beaches, parks, retail centers, and downtown areas.
• Media campaigns were delivered via a mix of vehicles, including: print ads in local newspapers, radio, bus ads inside and out, posters, and special events and promotions.
• During a recognition survey, 52.6% of the sample recognized the campaign from at least one medium, including 17% of smokers, 47.8% of former smokers and 47% of non-smokers.
• 62.9% of those that recognized any form of the campaign said it has some effect on their behavior, especially among smokers (81.5%).

Enforcement:

• Promoted the active enforcement of the California Smoke-free Workplace Law, LC 6404.5, resulting in one criminal and 5 civil judgments against business owners in violation of state law.
• Area enforcement agencies conduct ongoing surveillance/inspection programs. Two enforcement programs, initiated with TPSP-funding, have now been integrated into regular enforcement operations.
• Provided signage for 150-200 county and city parks in support of the state law (AB 1867) requiring a 25-foot smoke-free zone surrounding all playgrounds, and to many private businesses.
• Encouraged the development of local policies that reduce the presence of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) from entering workplaces from outdoor areas on three college campuses (UCSB, SBCC, Allan Hancock), which is mirrored in state legislation.
• Met with restaurant managers and owners in the City of Santa Barbara in order to educate them about the laws that govern smoking on outdoor dining patios. Provided signage and fact sheets in order to aid with the implementation of the laws.
• Implemented and enforced tobacco retailer licensing, which requires that all tobacco retailers in the Cities of Santa Barbara and Goleta, as well as the country areas obtain a county license.
• Initiated enforcement of Penal Code 308a, with the County Sheriff, citing retail clerks that sold tobacco products to minors.
• To date, enforcement has resulted with 21 license suspensions, in which retailers lost their ability to sell and advertise tobacco products for a given period of time.
• In 2006, the rate of tobacco sales to minors was 9%, which dropped from 36% in 2004 and 38% in 2005.

Evaluation & Surveillance:

• All TPSP funded projects have performance targets, and grantees are monitored on the accomplishment of their objectives.
• TPSP spearheaded a joint project with the school districts to survey tobacco use among youth, which resulted in a rich source of information about a wide range of health behaviors among school-aged youth. The following chart depicts the telling comparison between teen smokers versus their non-smoking counterparts on a number of variables. This data and school/community partnership is a direct result of TPSP funding.

• As part of the project to increase enforcement of the laws governing outdoor dining areas, an analysis was completed of all of the restaurants in the City of Santa Barbara. It was found that of the restaurants that offer outdoor dining, 36% are 100% smoke-free. A TPSP-funded ad is annually placed in a local weekly newspaper that recognizes the restaurants that have adopted outdoor smoke-free policies.
• In accompaniment with the No Butts Left Behind project, surveillance has been completed annually at various intervention sites. For the first year of the project, results showed the most significant decrease (74.4% decrease) at Carpinteria Beach, which instituted a no smoking policy between the first and second observations. The intervention high school campuses also saw positive results in comparison to the non-intervention control campus.