Beginning in January 2006 and continuing throughout the year, Michigan Talk Network has interviewed medical and legal experts as well as citizens in Michigan and throughout the United States about smoking, tobacco, and health-related issues. This radio media initiative is sponsored by Tobacco Free Michigan; interviews are broadcast on Tuesdays at 6:30 a.m. as part of the early morning program entitled "The Big Show."

Participating AM radio stations include:

• WWKK 750 AM and WJML 1110 AM - Petoskey
• WMMI 830 AM - Mt. Pleasant
• WBCH 1220 AM - Hastings
• WIAN 1240 AM - Ishpeming
• WJIM 1240 AM - Lansing
• WDMJ 1320 AM - Marquette
• WTRX 1330 AM - Flint
• WKMI 1360 AM - Kalamazoo
• WSCG 1380 AM - Greenville
• WODJ 1490 AM - Muskegon

We have archived these interviews so you can download and review them at your convenience. Please note that the interviews are available as MP3 recordings. You will need MP3 player software, such as Real Player* or Windows Media Player,* installed on your computer to listen to these recordings.


Interviews available for download:

• Ursula Bauer, program manager, New York State Department of Health (www.health.state.ny.us)
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • The State of New York has had a statewide smoke-free law since July 2003.
  • The law has enormous popular support — 80 percent of New Yorkers favor the law, including one-third to one-half of all smokers.
  • All workers (regardless of where they work), as well as the public who live in New York, are protected from secondhand smoke toxins.
  • A normative shift must occur in society, where smoking isn’t thought to be something that has to be tolerated.
  • Smoking is a "con" perpetrated against the American people by a few greedy people and decades of marketing. New research shows that there are dozens of chemicals and toxins in secondhand smoke that affect non-smokers who breathe smoke.
  • In 2004, New York had the first decline in smoking prevalence in 17 years.

  Download the June 20, 2006 interview with Ursula Bauer as an MP3 file (Note: File is 1.96 MB; interview is four minutes and 16 seconds.)*

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• Jim Bergman, director, Smoke-Free Environments Law Project (www.tcsg.org/sfelp/home.htm), Ann Arbor, MI
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • cultural changes: smoking in public places;
  • passing laws is the most effective method to protect the public and employees with safe, clean air; and
  • secondhand smoke (SHS) is dangerous.

  Download the April 18, 2006 interview with Jim Bergman as an MP3 file (Note: File is 2.42 MB; interview is five minutes and 17 seconds.)*

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• Ron Davis, MD, director of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Henry Ford Health System (www.henryford.com); member, American Medical Association Board of Directors
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • Tobacco use is the most preventable cause of death in Michigan and the United States.
• Food and Drug Administration-approved medications and counseling are available and successful with nicotine addiction.
• Secondhand smoke results in heart and cancer diseases.

Download the Feb. 28, 2006 interview with Dr. Davis as an MP3 file (Note: File is 2.66 MB; interview is five minutes and 49 seconds.)*

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• Cliff Douglas, JD, consulting attorney, Smoke Free Environments Law Project (www.tcsg.org/sfelp/home.htm), Ann Arbor, MI
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • tobacco settlement revenues vs. State of Michigan expenditures on tobacco control (every dollar saves another life);
• approximately one-quarter (25 percent) of the adult (18 years and older) Michigan population smokes; and
• most smokers want to quit, they just need extra motivation and assistance.

Download the March 14, 2006 interview with Cliff Douglas as an MP3 file (Note: File is 2.32 MB; interview is five minutes and four seconds.)*

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• Chris Filizetti, heavy equipment operator, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (www.cleveland-cliffs.com), Marquette, MI
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • Chris is an employee of the Cleveland-Cliffs iron ore mining company, which implemented a non-smoking policy in the fall of 2005.
• Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. now provides a smoke-free work environment for employees.
• The company provides different incentives to help employees "stay quit" from smoking, as well as to motivate them to stop smoking.

Download the May 30, 2006 interview with Chris Filizetti as an MP3 file (Note: File is 2.04 MB; interview is four minutes and 27 seconds.)*

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• John Flack, MD, cardiologist; professor and interim chair of Internal Medicine, Wayne State University (www.wayne.edu)
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • increased prevalence of smoking rates in African Americans, and
  • statistical importance of decreasing smoking initiation among kids.

  Download the Feb. 21, 2006 interview with Dr. Flack as an MP3 file (Note: File is 2.24 MB; interview is four minutes and 54 seconds.)*

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• Bronson Frick, associate director, Americans for Non-Smoker’s Rights (www.no-smoke.org), Berkeley, CA
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • 2005 was the 15th anniversary of smoke-free domestic airline flights, the first occupational protection from secondhand smoke. Smoke-free air is good for health and business.
• A major finding of the 2006 U.S. Surgeon General’s report is that smoking rooms and ventilation systems do not protect from secondhand smoke. Michigan is falling behind the national curve.
• The Michigan law of "preemption" prevents local governments from implementing smoke-free ordinances.
• Studies that report that non-smoking policies and/or laws have a negative business impact are funded by tobacco companies.

Download the July 25, 2006 interview with Bronson Frick as an MP3 file (Note: File is 2.48 MB; interview is five minutes and 25 seconds.)*

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• Jim Herrington, health educator, Marquette County Health Department (www.marquette.localhealth.net), Marquette, MI
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • 15 years of work developing partnerships with community businesses, community organizations, schools, youth serving groups and organizations to implement education programs, develop smoke-free business policies, and advertise the dangers of smoking.
  • Community partnerships have generated a lot of positive impact.
  • Outcome data: During the past 10 years, Marquette County has reduced smoking prevalence to 15 percent, as compared to 25 percent in 1995. Data is based on Michigan Department of Community Health random surveys of adult and youth smoking prevalence throughout the state.
  • Economic Impact: Over $10 million savings in Marquette County alone since 1995. The economic impact attracts businesses because the workforce is more healthy and productive, and it also helps families living in the community.
  • There is a great need in other Michigan counties to fund and support health educators who can act as tobacco cessation resources for their communities. New York State Health Department has had a big impact with funding local tobacco control resource staff.

  Download the Aug. 22, 2006 interview with Jim Herrington as an MP3 file (Note: File is 2.20 MB; interview is four minutes and 49 seconds.)*

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• Jack Leadbetter, mayor, Marquette, MI (www.mqtcty.org)
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • The June 2006 U.S. Surgeon General's Report scientifically concluded there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. In addition, the report stated that non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke increase their risk of developing heart disease by 25 percent to 30 percent and also lung cancer by 25 percent to 30 percent.
  • In the 1990s, the City of Marquette became one of the first cities in Michigan to pass a smoke-free worksite ordinance. Mayor Leadbetter believes the ordinance has contributed to the well-being of the city.
  • Marquette was very proactive and worked with the local health department to provide education classes to quit smoking.
  • Mayor Leadbetter believes that secondhand smoke is a health hazard, not just an annoyance, and is convinced that smoking is the way to an early death.
  • Mayor Leadbetter is a former four-packs-a-day smoker who quit 30 years ago, after a total of nine attempts to quit.
  
  Download the July 11, 2006 interview with Mayor Jack Leadbetter as an MP3 file (Note: File is 1.75 MB; interview is three minutes and 50 seconds.)*

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• E. Yvonne Lewis, executive director, Faith Access to Community Economic Development, Flint, MI
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • Health disparities and lack of access to health care result in higher smoking rates.
  • Michigan data show that five major ethnic groups (Arab Chaldean, Hispanic, African American, Asian, and Latino) have high smoking rates. Tobacco companies target these groups.
  • The Michigan Multicultural Network developed a ‘Smoke-Free Pledging’ brochure, now translated into four languages, that helps people understand the devastating impact of tobacco on health and encourages living in smoke-free environment.
  
  Download the June 6, 2006 interview with E. Yvonne Lewis as an MP3 file (Note: File is 2.02 MB; interview is four minutes and 25 seconds.)*

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• Dan McGoldrick, vice president for research, Tobacco Free Kids (www.tobaccofreekids.org), Washington, DC
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • dangers of secondhand smoke and kids; and
  • need to take a small percentage (less than 5 percent) of the tobacco settlement money and use it for a comprehensive tobacco prevention programs that research has proven do work.

  Download the March 21, 2006 interview with Dan McGoldrick as an MP3 file (Note: File is 2.13 MB; interview is four minutes and 39 seconds.)*

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• Joan McGowan, associate professor, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan (www.dent.umich.edu), Ann Arbor, MI
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • Spit tobacco has been a baseball tradition.
  • Joe Garagiola, honorary chair and spokesperson of the National Spit Tobacco Education Program (www.nstep.org; www.rwjf.org/portfolios/resources/
    grantsreport.jsp?filename=047853.htm&iaid=143), has been instrumental with baseball players quitting the use of spit tobacco.
  • Spit tobacco is addictive and is not a safe alternative to smoking.
  • Spit tobacco chemicals will ruin your mouth, cause bone loss, gum disease, and oral cancer.
  
  Download the July 18, 2006 interview with Joan McGowan as an MP3 file (Note: File is 2.20 MB; interview is four minutes and 48 seconds.)*

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• Dave Nelson, MD, MS, senior scientific advisor, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov)
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • economics of funding tobacco programs;
• the most cost-effective ways to help people quit smoking (Quitline services, counseling, and nicotine replacement therapy); and
• the proven effectiveness of mass media campaigns.

Download the March 28, 2006 interview with Dr. Nelson as an MP3 file (Note: File is 2.63 MB; interview is five minutes and 44 seconds.)*

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• Dan Peterson, executive director, City of Cadillac Housing Commission, Cadillac, MI (www.cadillac-mi.net)
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • The City of Cadillac's Housing Commission was the first housing commission in Michigan to develop and implement a smoke-free policy.
  • The Cadillac Board of Commissioners took 18 months to research the issues and found that there were no regulations or state laws in Michigan that prohibited implementing a smoke-free policy.
  • Cadillac's policy applies to all new apartment residents and their guests.
  
  Download the Aug. 9, 2006 interview with Dan Peterson as an MP3 file (Note: File is 2.00 MB; interview is four minutes and 22 seconds.)*

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• Rhonda Rudolph, health educator, Jackson County Health Department (www.co.jackson.mi.us/hd), Jackson, MI
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • Local community tobacco coalitions serve as an important network of professionals (including representatives from local business, mental health, police, and other health personnel) who focus on problems at the local community level.
  • Local community tobacco coalitions act as a contact for people interested in quitting tobacco use; a resource to worksites trying to implement smoke-free policies to protect employees; and a resource to parents who want to quit smoking and want to adopt a ‘Smoke-Free Home and Car Pledge.’ They also provide education in schools and work with elected officials to help them understand the health-related effects of secondhand smoke.
  
  Download the Aug. 15, 2006 interview with Rhonda Rudolph as an MP3 file (Note: File is 1.72 MB; interview is three minutes and 46 seconds.)*

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• Richard Sargent, MD, family practice, St. Peters Hospital (www.stpetes.org), Helena, MT
  
  Focus of the interview:
• toxins and risks of secondhand smoke exposure;
• state of Montana's Comprehensive Clean Air Ordinance; and
• landmark published study of heart attacks related to secondhand smoke.

Download the Feb. 7, 2006 interview with Dr. Sargent as an MP3 file (Note: File is 2.18 MB; interview is four minutes and 45 seconds.)*

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• Clare Shepard, city commissioner, Muskegon, MI (www.muskegon-mi.gov)
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • This is a personal story about Clare and her husband, both of whom were smokers and were unaware of dangers to their children.
  • One daughter was born with asthma and low birth weight. On a family to trip to Cedar Point, Clare's daughter developed problems breathing, collapsed in her mothers’ arms, and died in the family car.
  • Clare now spends her time educating others about the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke.
  
  Download the June 27, 2006 interview with Clare Shepard as an MP3 file (Note: File is 1.54 MB; interview is three minutes and 22 seconds.)*

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• Mark Travers, Tobacco Control and Research, Roswell Park Cancer Institute (www.roswellpark.org), Buffalo, NY
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • Tobacco air pollution: monitoring and measurement of non-smoking facilities = 90 percent less indoor air pollution.
  • Secondhand smoke contains 60 carcinogens.
  • Having smoking and non-smoking areas inside a facility is not an effective means of decreasing air pollution.
  
  Download the May 2, 2006 interview with Mark Travers as an MP3 file (Note: File is 2.43 MB; interview is five minutes and 19 seconds.)*

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• Joe Turner, president, Smoke-Free Educational Services
  
  Focus of the interview:
  • Everyone deserves to breathe clean air and to live and work in a smoke-free environment.
  • Smoke has been proven to cause many types of cancer, heart disease, and lung disease (such as emphysema), as well as other diseases.
  • 17 states have already passed smoke-free legislation.
  • Michigan shouldn't be among the last states to pass smoke-free legislation.
  
  Download the May 23, 2006 interview with Joe Turner as an MP3 file (Note: File is 1.98 MB; interview is four minutes and 19 seconds.)*

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*Please Note:
Real Player, which can play MP3 files, is available for free download at www.real.com/player/index.html?lang=en.


Windows Media Player, which can play MP3 files, is available for free download at www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/download.

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last updated: 09/06/06

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