Megan Rochelo quoted in Sun Chronicle story on banning smoking in Biddeford parks

Megan Rochelo, director of UNE's Coastal Healthy Communities Coalition, was quoted in an Oct. 6, 2011 Sun Chronicle story on the Biddeford Recreation Commission's proposal to ban smoking from all the city's parks and beaches.

The story reports that at a commission meeting, Rochello confirmed “Secondhand smoke is actually a very big public health issue,” she said. “There are studies that show it can be as great a risk outside as inside.”

The coalition is also the agency that provided the Biddeford Recreation Department with the signs reading “This is a tobacco free area,” which are posted at all playgrounds and playing fields. Rochelo said if the city expanded its smoke-free zones, her agency would be willing to provide additional signs for free.

Coastal Healthy Communities Coalition is a community-based health promotion coalition working to prevent tobacco use and substance abuse. The coalition, a program of the UNE College of Osteopathic Medicine, is a Healthy Maine Partnership, is funded by the Maine’s share of the tobacco settlement through the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Fund for Healthy Maine.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.