FORT WALTON BEACH, FLA. — The Okaloosa County Tobacco-Free Partnership (OCTFP) and Crestview High School Students Working Against Tobacco club (CHS SWAT) have partnered with Tobacco Free Florida in Okaloosa and the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) to host a “Spanish Trail Park Cleanup” on Saturday, April 29 from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Spanish Trail Park in Crestview. The “Spanish Trail Park Cleanup” directly follows the OCSO’s “Cruisers and Cops” event occurring at the same location from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The “Spanish Trail Park Cleanup,” aims to increase awareness of tobacco waste at parks and other public outdoor spaces throughout Okaloosa County where tobacco free policies are not in place.

The OCTFP and CHS SWAT stood before representatives of the Crestview City Council to advocate for policy reform to ban smoking and vaping from Crestview-owned public parks on Feb. 13. They presented to the Crestview City Council their vision of a healthier community where public parks were free from secondhand smoke, or tobacco smoke capable of being involuntarily inhaled by others¹.

CHS SWAT President and OCTFP member, Lauren Woodward, indicated that there are “health effects, social effects, environmental effects and mental effects of smoking and vaping that often go unnoticed.” She indicated that the environmental effects of smoking and vaping in public parks is apparent when “you want to go on a walk [at Twin Hills Park in Crestview] and you see cigarette butts.”

If you would like to learn more or become involved, please contact Tobacco Free Florida in Okaloosa at tobaccofreeokaloosa@flhealth.gov.

About Tobacco Free Florida

The Florida Department of Health’s Tobacco Free Florida campaign is a statewide cessation and prevention campaign funded by Florida’s Tobacco Settlement Fund. Since the program began in 2007, more than 289,000 Floridians have successfully quit using one of Tobacco Free Florida's free tools and services. There are now approximately 451,000 fewer adult smokers in Florida than there was 10 years ago, and the state has saved $17.7 billion in health care costs. 

To learn more about Tobacco Free Florida’s Quit Your Way services, visit www.TobaccoFreeFlorida.com or follow the campaign on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TobaccoFreeFlorida or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/tobaccofreefla.