RIAFP Policy
Brief: 12/8/00
TAR WARS
Every spring,
dozens of family physicians speak to the fifth grade classes of many
Rhode Island Schools, in an effort to prevent kids from starting to
smoke.
This effort,
called the TAR WARS Program, has taken smoking prevention,
education and skill building to approximately 15,000 5th graders in
Rhode Island.
TAR WARS,
started in Rhode Island by Dr Arthur Frazzano, past president of the
RIAFP and the Rhode Island Medical Society, and is now administered
by the RIMS, and staffed by 60 physicians of different specialties.
TAR WARS is
part of a national anti-smoking program involving over 350,000 5th
graders nationwide each year and students from Rhode Island compete
in a national poster contest.
We invite the
General Assembly to join us in our commitment to smoking prevention
by banning the use of tobacco vending machines, by outlawing all forms
of tobacco advertising, and by devoting the tobacco settlement to
funding of primary care for all Rhode Islanders, (the most effective
method of smoking cessation), and other tobacco abatement programs.
This is one
in a series of reports designed to advance Family Practice and primary
care in Rhode Island's health care system, as well as to discuss public
health issues of importance to all Rhode Islanders.
We welcome
the opportunity to further discuss the issues presented here. We can
be reached by phone at 401-453-4176, or by email at info@riafp.org.
12/8/00
