Linda Greenlaw Charters is Tobacco-Free
“I have spent my life striving to promote and maintain a healthy ocean. A healthy workplace is a natural extension of this.”
Healthy Acadia is thrilled to share that Linda Greenlaw Charters, owned and operated by internationally-known Maine author, commercial lobster and longline swordfish boat captain Linda Greenlaw Wessel, has adopted a comprehensive tobacco-free policy.
In early 2022, Healthy Acadia’s tobacco prevention team reached out to Linda Greenlaw Charters to offer assistance with tobacco-free policy development and provide information about our associated mini-grant opportunity funded through Maine Prevention Services. Together with Greenlaw Wessel, our team worked to draft a policy tailored to suit the unique needs of the charter business. Linda Greenlaw Charters adopted a comprehensive tobacco-free policy on March 10, 2022, and through the mini-grant program, ordered tobacco-free signage for her vessels and Sea Shed.
“I have spent my life striving to promote and maintain a healthy ocean,” said Greenlaw Wessel. “A healthy workplace is a natural extension of this. Healthy Acadia was able to tailor a smoking policy to my unique needs; on land and at sea.”
Strong leadership on public health promotion by preeminent figures in the community can help to shape the policies of neighboring businesses and organizations. Linda Greenlaw Charters now benefits from a comprehensive written policy that protects the health of all employees, customers, contractors, and visitors.
Thank you, Linda Greenlaw Wessel and Linda Greenlaw Charters, for helping Maine Breathe Easy!
No safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke exists. Of the more than 7,000 chemicals found in tobacco smoke, 69 are known carcinogens. Secondhand smoke is detrimental to human health andincreases a nonsmoker’s risk of developing asthma, lung cancer and heart disease, and can cause serious health problems in children.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, in 2020, nearly 1 in 6 Maine adults were smokers. Healthy Acadia is on a mission to help our community be smoke free.
A healthy Maine economy is closely tied to our water and water-related resources. Buoyed by a successful partnership with Linda Greenlaw Charters, the Healthy Acadia tobacco team hopes in the future to engage with other nautical companies in its service area on policy work. Good policies positively affect tobacco control and the health of all Mainers: creating smoke-free environments is recognized as a highly effective policy intervention by the US CDC in its Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs.
For more information and assistance with creating a tobacco-free policy for your business or organization contact Mia Petrini in Hancock County or Carrie Cropley in Washington County.