Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in Florida.

The Florida Department of Health in Walton County works alongside residents, schools, employers, property owners, health care providers, and local government to reduce tobacco and nicotine use across our community.

Rather than focusing only on individual behavior, we help organizations adopt the kinds of lasting changes, such as tobacco-free grounds, smoke-free housing, cessation benefits, and youth-led advocacy, that protect everyone who lives, works, learns, and plays in Walton County.

Why it Matters

  1. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in Florida, and most tobacco users start before age 18.
  2. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke causes heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer in adults and sudden infant death syndrome, ear infections, and more frequent and severe asthma attacks in children.
  3. Commercial tobacco use is linked to cancer nearly anywhere in the body, along with heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, and poor pregnancy outcomes.
  4. Electronic cigarettes and other vapor products are not harmless. Most contain nicotine, which is highly addictive and harms the developing adolescent brain.

Tobacco Prevention Initiatives

Cessation Access

More than half of adult tobacco users say they want to quit. Our role is to make sure that when someone is ready, help is close by and free.

We work to expand access to evidence-based cessation services throughout Walton County by:

  • Partnering with West Florida Area Health Education Center (AHEC) to offer free group quit classes, in person and online, with free nicotine replacement therapy for eligible participants
  • Helping health care providers integrate tobacco screening and referral into routine care, so every patient who uses tobacco is connected to help
  • Encouraging employers to offer comprehensive cessation benefits, which improve employee health and reduce absenteeism and health care costs
  • Connecting behavioral health, recovery, and social service partners to cessation resources for their clients

To find or schedule a group quit class or request cessation materials for your organization, call 850-398-6965 or view AHEC’s event calendar.

Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT)

SWAT is Florida’s statewide youth organization working to mobilize, educate, and equip young leaders to revolt against Big Tobacco. SWAT clubs give middle and high school students a way to push back on the tobacco industry’s marketing in their own communities.

Because the overwhelming majority of tobacco users start before age 18, the tobacco industry has long targeted young people through flavors, packaging, price promotions, and placement in stores where youth shop. SWAT members learn to recognize those tactics, educate their peers and their community about them, and speak with local decision makers about tobacco-free policies. SWAT also gives students real experience in planning, carrying out, and evaluating community projects — skills that serve them well long after graduation.

Walton County’s SWAT club is active at the Boys and Girls Club of the Emerald Coast in DeFuniak Springs. Students, teachers, and school administrators interested in starting or joining a club can call 850-401-6338 or email us.

Smoke-Free Multi-Unit Housing

We work with apartment complexes, condominium associations, senior housing, and public housing authorities in Walton County to adopt voluntary smoke-free policies, offering free technical assistance, model policy language, resident education materials, signage, and connections to cessation help for residents who use tobacco.

Property owners and managers can request free assistance by calling 850-401-6338 or emailing us.

Tobacco-Free Schools

Schools should be a healthy place to learn, and school staff and visitors are role models for students. Comprehensive tobacco-free school policies — covering all tobacco and nicotine products, all people, all school property, and all times, including events — are one of the most effective ways to prevent youth from ever starting.

We partner with the Walton County School District and area private and charter schools to strengthen tobacco-free policies, install policy signage, provide staff training, and offer alternatives to suspension for students caught with tobacco or vapor products, so that students get help with nicotine addiction rather than time out of the classroom.

Coalition tobacco priorities include the community tobacco-free partnership itself, SWAT clubs, tobacco-free schools, tobacco-free policies, cessation access, smoke-free multi-unit housing, and point of sale education.

Tobacco-Free Public Spaces

The Florida Clean Indoor Air Act, as amended in 2022, allows counties and municipalities to further restrict smoking and vaping in public parks and on public beaches they own.

We provide local governments with education, model policy language, community input, and signage support so that families can enjoy public spaces without exposure to secondhand smoke.

Point of Sale

Advertising, price promotions, and product placement in convenience stores and gas stations shape what young people see as normal and make quitting harder for people trying to stop.

Our point-of-sale work includes educating retailers and the community about tobacco marketing practices, supporting compliance with state and federal age-of-sale laws, conducting store assessments with SWAT youth to document local marketing strategies, and sharing that information with community leaders and decision makers.

Retailers who want signage, age-of-sale materials, or training can call 850-401-6338 or email us.