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Washington Breathes

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About Us

Washington Breathes is a statewide coalition of organizations and individuals working to eliminate the harmful use of commercial tobacco and other nicotine products.  


A strategic planning group convened in the spring of 2021 to explore forming a new statewide partnership to prevent youth tobacco use, reduce nicotine dependence, and eliminate health inequities due to commercial tobacco use. An amazing group of individuals from different sectors worked together to develop the foundation for a diverse, participant-driven, equity-focused, statewide coalition. With the formal launch of Washington Breathes in September 2022, we invite you to join us and continue to build an effective, action-oriented coalition. 


See our growing list of member organizations.

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Our Vision

A healthier Washington, where commercial tobacco-related inequities are non-existent and where all people in our communities, across generations, are free from nicotine addiction, disease and premature death caused by commercial tobacco.

Our Mission

To bring together diverse partners from a variety of sectors to build capacity, collaborate, increase understanding, support cessation, and develop policy, systems, and environmental changes aimed at eliminating inequities and the negative effects from commercial tobacco use, sales and marketing.

COALITION RELATIONSHIP PRINCIPLES

  1. We recognize that our diversity is our strength and find unity in our shared vision.
  2. We welcome and encourage new ideas and seek to understand and respect diverse perspectives.
  3. We strive to create an equitable environment, to consider our work through an equity lens, to elevate the voices of those most impacted by commercial tobacco use, and to ensure their representation at the decision-making table.
  4. We create and support a learning culture, strive to be flexible to overcome obstacles, and celebrate each success in our challenging long-term work to end the commercial tobacco epidemic.
  5. We are respectful and transparent in our interactions with each other and during the coalition’s decision-making and communication processes.
  6. We work through conflicts by using reflective listening, asking thoughtful open-ended questions, providing direct and helpful feedback to each other, and seeking creative solutions.
  7. While allowing for and respecting a variety of opinions, we honor the consensus-based decision-making process of the group. 
  8. We participate fully and recognize that investing time in building strong, trusting relationships is critical to building our collective power and achieving our shared vision.
  9. We encourage coalition members to help hold each other accountable for adhering to the established relationship principles.

Coalition Guiding Principles

Our intention is to use these values as a compass as we work together to reach our goals and fulfill the mission of Washington Breathes.


  1. We work together to restore our state’s commitment to fund sustainable, community-centered programs providing effective, culturally appropriate services that address inequities and protect against tobacco industry tactics.
  2. We acknowledge that all Washingtonians and all communities are affected by commercial tobacco use differently, across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. Universal wellness strategies are needed for every community and effective focused interventions are critical for individuals and specific communities. We support, develop, and implement culturally responsive strategies that rely on the voices, strengths, experience, knowledge, and deep understanding of each community about their own well-being and resilience  
  3. We acknowledge and respect the sacred use of traditional tobacco by some American Indian tribes as a sacred medicine and in ceremony to promote physical, spiritual, emotional, and community well-being. Commercial tobacco does not refer to traditional tobacco use by some Indigenous people as sacred medicine and in ceremony, which is not associated with addiction and adverse health impacts when used appropriately.
  4. We support strategies that are grounded in available evidence, including evidence-based practices that are accepted and implemented as effective by local communities, with recognition that available data often do not fully identify or address the needs of impacted communities. We support community-driven solutions to fill these data gaps and expanding the research infrastructure to be more holistic, representative, and inclusive of all Washington communities.
  5. We support and advocate for comprehensive prevention policies, practices, and programs that effectively influence youth and young adults against initiating commercial tobacco use and support the right of local communities to innovatively meet their local needs including strengthening regulations controlling commercial tobacco sales and marketing. 
  6. We acknowledge nicotine dependence and addiction as health conditions that need to be addressed, prevented, and treated. Every individual using commercial tobacco products should have easy access to affordable, effective, and appropriate cessation services and support, especially those disproportionately targeted by the commercial tobacco industry and most affected by commercial tobacco use.
  7. People who are addicted to tobacco products are often subject to health inequities and are coping with greater stressors than the general population. We oppose stigmatizing people who use commercial tobacco, including electronic or other nicotine delivery systems, and we demonstrate that in our communications, programs, policies, and actions.
  8. Enforcement of regulations on the sale, distribution, and purchase of commercial tobacco products should be focused on the manufacturers and retailers of these products. Enforcement to prevent underage sales should focus on retailer compliance checks that do not disproportionately target specific communities. 
  9. We believe that reducing youth use of commercial tobacco products is best achieved and most equitable through supportive community-based interventions, rather than punitive measures directed at individuals. 
  10. We support exposing, dispelling, and preventing disinformation used to mislead the public and further the aims of the commercial tobacco industry in marketing their addictive and toxic products. 

ABOUT THE COALITION’S FINANCIAL SUPPORT

The Washington State Department of Health’s Commercial Tobacco Prevention Program (DOH CTPP) is providing funding for development and coordination of Washington Breathes through a state tobacco grant from the Centers for Disease Control and some state funding. DOH CTPP participates in the coalition as a member, serving on the Steering Committee. This partnership aligns with and enhances efforts to achieve the state’s commercial tobacco strategic plan (2021-2025). 


A part-time coalition organizer position is currently funded through a contract with DOH CTPP. Contact our coalition organizer at organizer@washingtonbreathes.org

OUR SHARED TERMINOLOGY

Why we say "commercial tobacco"...

We use the term commercial tobacco to differentiate clearly from use of traditional tobacco by Indigenous peoples. 

Commercial tobacco

Commercial tobacco is tobacco that is manufactured and sold by the commercial tobacco industry, and is linked to addiction, disease, and death. Commercial tobacco includes any product that contains tobacco and/or nicotine, such as cigarettes, cigars, electronic cigarettes, hookah, pipes, heated tobacco, smokeless tobacco, and other oral nicotine products. Commercial tobacco does not include FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapies such as nicotine patches or gum.

Traditional Tobacco

Some American Indian tribes use tobacco as a sacred medicine and in ceremony to promote physical, spiritual, emotional, and community well-being. This traditional tobacco, which may be tobacco and/or other plant mixtures, is different from commercial tobacco and is used differently in sacred practices. When used appropriately, traditional tobacco is not associated with addiction and adverse health impacts.

Shared Terminology & Concepts

Understanding each other is critical to our effective work as a coalition. Please see our list of Shared Terminology & Concepts for more explanations. Your questions and clarifications about these terms are always welcomed. 

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