Fresh Air, Clear Future: Youth Taking Charge in Creating Tobacco-Free Outdoor Spaces
Youth are emerging as powerful advocates and allies for creating tobacco-free and vapor-free outdoor environments. Parklands and outdoor recreational areas serve as vital community hubs, promoting active, healthy lifestyles where tobacco and e-cigarette use in these spaces simply do not fit.
100% tobacco-free outdoor environments offer numerous benefits, including sustainable infrastructure that boosts public health, strengthened social connections, and enhanced environmental quality and outdoor experiences.
Advancing legislative policy change is a tough battle, and state-level preemption restricts localities’ ability to enact their own clean outdoor air ordinances. Yet youth are turning this adversity into a rallying cry for action.
You’ll learn firsthand from youth how they are navigating complex tobacco control laws, including identifying loopholes, understanding preemption regulations, shifting public perceptions and norms, and building public demand for tobacco-free, smoke-free, and vapor-free outdoor environments.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Describe how youth advocacy can influence community support and policy development for tobacco–free and vape-free outdoor environments
- Analyze how state-level preemption laws affect local tobacco control policy efforts and identify strategies youth advocates use to navigate these regulatory constraints.
- Identify practical approaches for engaging youth in efforts to shift social norms and build public demand for tobacco-free outdoor spaces in parks and recreational areas