Department of Health collaboration named finalist for Setting the Standard

SANTA FE – A project of the New Mexico Department of Health (DOH) has been named a finalist for the upcoming Association Excellence Awards ceremony July 14th in Albuquerque.

The Smoke Free At Home New Mexico project is a collaboration between DOH’s Nicotine Use Prevention and Control (NUPAC) program and the Apartment Association of New Mexico that works to reduce the harm of secondhand smoke in multi-unit housing statewide. 

Smoke Free At Home New Mexico is a finalist in the Setting the Standard category for the awards ceremony sponsored by the New Mexico Society of Association Executives (NMSAE). NMSAE is an organization established in 1963 to help amplify the efforts of multiple associations striving to improve quality of life for New Mexicans statewide. 

“Breathing healthy air where we live is critical for everyone’s overall health now and in years to come,” said Acting Department of Health Secretary, David R. Scrase, M.D. “We are proud of the work this program is doing to create more smoke and vape free housing in the state.”

Smoke Free At Home New Mexico has certified 227 apartment complexes and affordable or public housing locations as being smoke free, which includes 18,305 individual units. This program has converted two large management groups, JL Gray Co. and Monarch Properties, as smoke free for all of their properties and more are in the process of doing the same. To find more smoke free/vape free properties throughout New Mexico, check out the smoke free map at https://www.smokefreeathomenm.org/smokefreemap/. 

Research shows smoke-free properties are an attractive choice for potential residents with a majority of renters favoring no-smoking policies where they live, and view them as a desirable amenity.

Winners of the Association Excellence Awards ceremony will be announced Thursday, July 14th at the Sandia Golf Club Event Center starting at 2:30 p.m. For tickets and more information about the NMSAE, visit https://www.nmsae.org/. 

In addition to Smoke Free At Home New Mexico, NUPAC offers ways for New Mexicans at any age to learn to quit using tobacco products:

Live Vape Free, a new program launched in May offers teens free tools and resources by text message to help them quit the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarette, nicotine and vaping). New Mexico is one of only five states to launch both the youth and adult components of the program, out of the just 13 states using the Live Vape Free program. To register, all teens have to do is text VAPEFREE to 873373.  Adults will need to register online at LiveVapeFreeNM.com. 

In addition to helping teens, New Mexico adults ages 18 and older looking to quit any form of nicotine can continue to do so through the NMDOH’s 1-800-QUIT-NOW program. Find free and proven-effective tools at www.quitnownm.com.

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La colaboración del Departamento de Salud es finalista de Setting the Standard