BY EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
EDGEWOOD -- About 200 people participated in a 5K walk Sunday at Presidents Park, which completed a year of smoke-free activities by the Northern Kentucky Tobacco Team.
At a news conference before the walk, Todd Warnick, Kentucky Tobacco Control Manager in Frankfort, recognized Edgewood for being Kentucky's first "Smoke Free Community."
The city passed a resolution in July of 1997 that made Edgewood a smoke-free community. The resolution didn't make smoking illegal in the city. Instead, it called for the city to discourage businesses from selling tobacco products to minors and reinforce the dangers of smoking in its D.A.R.E. drug-education program.
But in a state in which tobacco is big business, Edgewood has been in the minority.
"We were concerned with how residents would accept our philosophy," City Administrator Lou Noll said. "I think most of the people understand that we're not trying to intrude on anyone's life. We've concentrated most of the efforts on young people in the city."
Sunday's event was in conWalkjunction with World No Tobacco Day.
A.J. Mertz, 10, of Edgewood was the first person to complete the walk. A.J., who has asthma, ran the entire race.
Joyce Swetlick, senior health educator for the Northern Kentucky Health Independent District Health Department, discussed statistics from a survey about youth and residents' attitudes on smoking in Edgewood.
The survey, conducted by the Northern Kentucky Tobacco Team, revealed that:
Twenty-seven percent of middle school students and 46 percent of high school students in Edgewood smoke tobacco products.
During checks by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Thorton Oil, United Dairy Farmers, JD's Food Mart, Sunoco and Erpenbeck Superette each complied with state rules about not selling tobacco products to minors.
Eighty-five percent of the residents who responded to the survey said Edgewood's becoming a smoke-free community is a positive change.
Eighty percent of the residents would like to see Edgewood fund activities to prevent youth from smoking.
Signs reading "Smoke Free Community" will be hung alongside seven "City of Edgewood" signs posted around the city.
