Health Department

Tobacco Control Initiative in Davidson County

The Health Promotion Division has initiated a comprehensive effort to reduce tobacco use by youth and to increase the number of smoke-free public places and work places in Nashville. Working through the Smoke-Free Nashville Coalition, this initiative conducts surveys to determine tobacco use by youth and carries out a number of public education efforts to discourage tobacco use. For more information, call the Health Promotion Division at (615) 340-0409.

Upcoming Smoke-Free Nashville Meetings:

Great American SmokeOut: The American Cancer Society (ACS) established this event in 1977 to educate the public on the dangers associated with tobacco use and to encourage smokers to quit for a lifetime by starting with just one day. The event is held annually on the third Thursday of November. During the past two years, the MPHD has partnered with local churches, the NAACP Health Committee and other community health organizations to plan and implement Nashville’s Great American SmokeOut (GASO) event. If you would like more information about GASO, please visit the American Cancer Society’s GASO page at http://acsf2f.com/gaso/aboutgaso.html

Kick Butts Day: Kick Butts Day (KBD) was started by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK) as an annual event held in the spring to promote youth advocacy on tobacco issues. It's a day for youth to stand out, speak up, and seize control in the fight against tobacco by raising awareness about tobacco—how it harms our health and how Big Tobacco targets kids—and supporting strong tobacco control policies. . If you would like more information about Kick Butts Day, please visit the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids KBD page at http://kickbuttsday.org/

World No Tobacco Day: World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is a World Health Organization event held on May 31st every year that informs the public on the dangers of using tobacco, the business practices of tobacco companies, what WHO is doing to fight the tobacco epidemic, and what people around the world can do to claim their right to health and healthy living and to protect future generations If you would like more information about World No Tobacco Day, please visit the World Health Organization’s Tobacco page.

Want to Stop Smoking?

Here is a list of smoking cessation resources in Davidson County to help you kick the habit.

The Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation
310 25th Avenue North, Suite 103
Nashville, TN 37203
Phone: (615) 467-1936, ext. 101
“Quit For Life Program”
Cost: Free
Additional information: New classes begin each week on Tuesdays from 6-7pm.
Call for more information or visit www.minniepearl.org

Vanderbilt Dayani Center
1500 22nd Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37232
Contact: Barbara Forbes
Telephone: (615) 343-7309
Additional Information: Four group sessions per year. Eight classes per session. This is a behaviorally-based program incorporating relapse prevention. Individual and group-based program tailoring and follow-up is available.

Skyline Medical Center
3441 Dickerson Rd
Nashville, TN 37207
Contact: Beth Wright
Telephone: (615) 769-7118
American Lung Association’s “Freedom from Smoking” program
Freedom From Smoking® (FFS) is a highly structured and comprehensive behavior modification approach to smoking cessation in a group support setting. FFS is based on the premise that smoking is a learned behavior. The seven session format provides for tracking personal habits, developing coping strategies and practice in a supportive environment with others who are experiencing the same feelings and challenges.
Cost: $50 refundable fee
Website: www.skylinemedicalcenter.com/

Southern Hills Medical Center
391 Wallace Rd
Nashville, TN 37211 Telephone: 1-800-242-5662
American Lung Association’s “Freedom from Smoking”
Freedom From Smoking® (FFS) is a highly structured and comprehensive behavior modification approach to smoking cessation in a group support setting. FFS is based on the premise that smoking is a learned behavior. The seven session format provides for tracking personal habits, developing coping strategies and practice in a supportive environment with others who are experiencing the same feelings and challenges.
Cost: $50 refundable fee
Website: www.southernhills.com/

Centennial Medical Center
2300 Patterson Street
Nashville, TN 37203
American Lung Association’s “Freedom from Smoking”
Freedom From Smoking® (FFS) is a highly structured and comprehensive behavior modification approach to smoking cessation in a group support setting. FFS is based on the premise that smoking is a learned behavior. The seven session format provides for tracking personal habits, developing coping strategies and practice in a supportive environment with others who are experiencing the same feelings and challenges.
Cost: $50 refundable fee
Contact: Kerry Cummings
Phone: (615) 342-6399

St. Thomas Hospital
One on One counseling for 3 sessions
Cost: $100 fee
Pulmonary Services Department
4220 Harding Road
Nashville, TN 37205
Telephone: 222-6506 or 1-888-603-6506
Call for more information

Nicotine Anonymous (NICA)
A Twelve Step Program of Recovery
Website: www.nicotine-anonymous.org
Email: info@nicotine-anonymous.org

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Smoking Cessation Quitlines:

Tennessee Tobacco Quitline
1 800 QUIT NOW
1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669)
Callers to the quitline can receive a free tobacco quit kit, work with a free quit coach, and learn to deal with their cravings and challenges. For more information about the quitline: http://health.state.tn.us/tobaccoquitline.shtml

Helpful Tobacco Websites:


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MPHD’s Tobacco Surveillance Program

As a part of the Metro Public Health Department Youth Advisory Board’s (YAB) tobacco prevention and intervention activities, the YAB annually conducts the Tobacco Surveillance program. YAB members survey tobacco retail stores for their willingness to sale tobacco to minors. In the presence of a Metro Public Health Department representative, students attempt to purchase tobacco products either by forgetting to show identification or by showing identification that clearly designates them as minors. However, at no time do the students actually purchase tobacco. Stores to be surveyed are identified as previous violators of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Tobacco Enforcement Program. The Department of Agriculture’s Tobacco Enforcement Program is conducted year around and has the sole authority to levy fines on retailers found to be selling tobacco to minors.
The YAB’s Tobacco Surveillance program does not have the power to fine retailers. Stores who refuse to sell tobacco products to minors are sent a ‘Reward Letter” which thanks them for denying the sell of tobacco to minors and complying with the law. Stores identified as willing to sale to minors - don’t check for identification and/or check identification but chose to sale- are sent a “Reminder Letter” encouraging retailer’s to comply with the Youth Access Law and the importance of not selling tobacco to minors. The names of these stores are also sent to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture for further follow-up and fines may result if retailers are found selling tobacco to minors.

Findings from the MPHD Youth Advisory Board’s Tobacco Surveillance Program (Davidson County):

    July 1, 2004 thru June 30, 2005: 8 checks, 4 referred for follow-up
    July 1, 2005 thru June 30, 2006: 18 checks, 4 referred for follow-up
    July 1, 2006 thru June 30, 2007: 131 checks, 20 referred for follow-up

Findings from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Tobacco Enforcement Program (Davidson County):

    2005: 240 checks, 2 violations
    2006: 205 checks, 0 violations
    2007: 389 checks, 13 violations

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Tobacco Facts

Youth Smoking
  • 90% of smokers start before the age of 19. (cdc.gov/tobacco, 2008)
  • Twenty-three percent of high school students in the United States are current cigarette smokers—23% of females and 22.9% of males. (cdc.gov/tobacco, 2008)
  • Approximately 26% of whites, 22% of Hispanics, and 13% of African Americans in high school are current cigarette smokers. (cdc.gov/tobacco, 2008)
  • Tobacco use in adolescence is associated with many other health risk behaviors, including higher risk sexual behavior and use of alcohol or other drugs. (cdc.gov/tobacco, 2008)
Davidson County Youth Smoking Rates
  • 13.5% of Davidson County youth report being current tobacco users. The state average is 17.1%. (2004 Youth Tobacco Survey).
  • 30% of Davidson County youth reported buying their last pack of cigarettes at a gas station or convenience store. 63.6% were not asked for proof of age when purchasing cigarettes. (2004 Youth Tobacco Survey)
  • 59.5% of youth smokers reported “wanting to quit. However, 61.2% of youth reported being unaware of smoking cessation programs available in their school or community. (2004 Youth Tobacco Survey)
  • 54.1% Davidson County youth reported being exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes. (2004 Youth Tobacco Survey)
  • Only 26.2% of Davidson County students reported being “taught about the dangers of tobacco”. (2004 Youth Tobacco Survey)
Adult Smoking
  • Tobacco is the only "consumer product" which when used exactly as the manufacturer intends, causes disease, disability and death.
  • Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in Nashville and the United States.
  • The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates more than 430,000 Americans die of smoking-related causes each year – accounting for one out of every five deaths.
Davidson County Adult Smoking Rates
  • According to the Health, Nashville, 2002 report issued by the Metro Public Health Department (MPHD), four out of the top five causes of death for Davidson County residents are related to smoking: heart disease, cancer, stroke, and chronic lower respiratory disease.
  • In Davidson County, 21% of adults report being current smokers. Statewide, 26.1% of Tennesseans smoke. (cdc.gov, 2006 BRFSS)

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Join the Smoke-Free Nashville Coalition

To become more involved in tobacco control initiatives in Davidson County, check out the following organizations:

Smoke-Free Nashville: Formed in 1997 as the Nashville Coalition on Smoking and Health, Smoke-Free Nashville (SFN) is a local coalition made up of individuals and organizations working to reduce tobacco use in Nashville.

SFN’s mission is to promote actions and policies that reduce death and disease caused by tobacco. SFN provides a forum for community to come together to address tobacco issues and work to reduce tobacco use in Davidson County. For more information about the Smoke-Free Nashville coalition, please call Robert Taylor at (615) 340-0401.

Campaign for a Health and Responsible Tennessee: The Campaign for a Healthy and Responsible Tennessee (CHART) CHART strives to be the vehicle to initiate and sustain policy and cultural change that will create a tobacco-free Tennessee. CHART is a membership-based grassroots coalition designed to educate the public and motivate Tennesseans to make political change. The central mission of CHART is to improve the quality of life for all Tennesseans by preventing disease, disability and death caused by tobacco use. CHART is a cooperative effort of more than 50-partner organizations including the Metro Public Health Department, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and the American Lung Association and the Tennessee Medical Association. For more information, go to the CHART website at www.tnchart.org.

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Events Calendar:


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Tobacco Links:



The Campaign for a Healthy and Responsible Tennessee (CHART): www.tnchart.org
The Tennessee Department of Health: http://health.state.tn.us
The Tennessee Nonsmoker Protection Act (for facts about Tennessee’s smoke-free workplace law): http://health.state.tn.us/smokefreetennessee/
The Tennessee Tobacco Quitline (for information about Tennessee’s free tobacco quitline): http://health.state.tn.us/tobaccoquitline.htm
The Center for Disease Control and Tobacco Control: www.cdc.gov/tobacco/
The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids: www.tobaccofreekids.org/
The Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights: www.no-smoke.org/