The mission of the Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center (NCPC), following our funding renewal in June 2024 from the Tobacco Related Disease Research Program, has been refined to reflect the data gathered in our first 5 years. When first created, the NCPC aimed to gather, understand, and promote the thoughts and feelings of rural California residents on tobacco and cannabis policy, via large scale surveys across 11 counties of the San Joaquin Valley and adjoining mountains.
As we look to the next 5 years, we aim to embolden community partners and share policy-influencing data in the long battle against the pervasive use of tobacco and other inhalants, helping work towards reducing tobacco-related diseases and deaths in this overlooked and underserved region of rural California.
The center will continue to be at the forefront of examining the impacts of tobacco and cannabis use, while also engaging local residents through community workshops to gather feedback, which in turn can help develop new and exisitng tobacco and cannabis policies. The NCPC's success relies on our close collaborations with San Joaquin Valley county health departments and community-based organizations.
The Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center (NCPC) is part of the Health Sciences Research Institute (HSRI).
We really want to know what you think about current policies in your county for nicotine and cannabis.
If you're over the age of 18 and live in Central California, you're eligible to join.
Click the button to get in touch, we would love to hear from you.
Follow us get & the latest Information.
The NCPC is partnering with several key community organizations in the San Joaquin Valley. Click the logos below.
The NCPC will work closely with CDPH members and local Public Health Departments to identify crucial policy issues within the 11 counties and help with research recruitment and diseminating our findings.
The California Health Collaborative is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization based in Fresno, committed to enhancing the quality of life and health of people in California, particularly the underserved and under represented.
The Tobacco-Use Prevention Education (TUPE) Capacity Building Project aims to build the capacity of school-based TUPE programs across the state by using a collaborative approach to highlight model programs and best practices, share resources, and support data-driven continuous improvement efforts.
Click the links for NCPC related news or stories utilizing our expertize.
COVID-19 News
What concerns me the most about smoking and vaping now, is the vaping - the E-cigarettes. Those are flavored and they makes kids think that its OK, because it's flavored. A lot of people don't see danger in things that look and tastes good. They don't know how deadly or addictive it could be.
- Necola Adams, Merced Resident.
Please review the attachments below for information in both English and Spanish, summarizing the emerging literature on COVID-19 and the effects of tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure. The literature is evolving as research on COVID-19 is rapidly emerging and disseminating; these reports and fact sheets will be updated regularly. Click the Images for the full PDF and Watch the Retro Report documentary featuring Dr. Anna Song:
To get the lastest information on COVID-19 and the association with toboccco, vaping & secondhand smoke, click the button below
NCPC MERCED OFFICE, SOCIAL SCIENCE & MANAGEMENT BUILDING
First-generation doctoral student Josiah Beharry made history in 2023 when he was chosen as the first student regent from UC Merced. In addition to being the 50th student to serve on the Board of...
Katherine Cai is on stage, reminiscing about high school. “My dad tried to teach me geometry. You know how that goes. The questions get more and more difficult and Dad gets more and more frustrated,...
Filmmaker and UC Merced Professor Yehuda Sharim recently completed an autobiographical project that is an intimate contemplation of his childhood home in Israel, where visits with his aging father...
