Deadly in Pink
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Press from our Summit
SCHENECTADY -- Hundreds of teenagers descended on the Capital Region Thursday to protest tobacco advertising's impact on children and the frequency with which characters smoke in movies.
About 300 teens from across the state took over Schenectady's Veterans Park, Scotia's Freedom/Collins Park, Saratoga Springs' Congress Park and the Empire State Plaza to stage mock plays, chant cautionary statistics about the health dangers of smoking and gather signatures in hopes of stopping convenience stores from placing cigarette ads at children's eye levels.
For the statewide group called Reality Check, it was its largest coordinated effort since being formed from tobacco settlement money about eight years ago, said Sarah Jennette, a Reality Check trainer and SUNY Plattsburgh student.
"We wanted to do something really big," Jennette said.
Jennette was among about 60 people who staged their protest at Veterans Park Thursday afternoon. A group of teens stood on State Street, holding up signs, beating a drum and chanting messages such as, "every eight seconds, someone dies from a tobacco-related illness."
Others flanked the entrance of the Schenectady County Office Building, some wearing white hazmat outfits, holding up signs protesting smoking in movies.
Kathleen Herlihy, 16, of Geneseo, Livingston County, dressed as Brad Pitt and wore a mortar board around her neck to protest the star's alleged smoking habit and how it makes smoking look cool for kids.
Herlihy, who has been a member of Reality Check since eighth grade, said she likes the idea she's helping a cause. She also said she enjoys meeting other teens and getting to travel as the group did this week. All the teens are staying at Union College dorms during their visit.
Makayla Glover, 16, of Elmira, was part of a group staging a mock awards show that was giving golden coffins, instead of Oscars, to members of the Hollywood elite who encourage smoking in movies. In order to draw attention, Glover wore a red wig and a blue polka-dot dress as a costume.
Glover got involved in Reality Check as an eighth-grader after her mother, who works for Reality Check partner Cornell Cooperative Extension, encouraged her to do so.
"It's showing people that young people care about everyone's health," Glover said.
Teenagers from 13 to 18 are recruited to join Reality Check, often through school-based events. There is one adult Reality Check coordinator in each county, but many of the events are organized by older teens or previous high school leaders who have moved on to college. County chapters typically stage small protests in their own communities and appeal to municipal leaders to support different types of bans on smoking and tobacco advertising.
About 300 teens from across the state took over Schenectady's Veterans Park, Scotia's Freedom/Collins Park, Saratoga Springs' Congress Park and the Empire State Plaza to stage mock plays, chant cautionary statistics about the health dangers of smoking and gather signatures in hopes of stopping convenience stores from placing cigarette ads at children's eye levels.
For the statewide group called Reality Check, it was its largest coordinated effort since being formed from tobacco settlement money about eight years ago, said Sarah Jennette, a Reality Check trainer and SUNY Plattsburgh student.
"We wanted to do something really big," Jennette said.
Jennette was among about 60 people who staged their protest at Veterans Park Thursday afternoon. A group of teens stood on State Street, holding up signs, beating a drum and chanting messages such as, "every eight seconds, someone dies from a tobacco-related illness."
Others flanked the entrance of the Schenectady County Office Building, some wearing white hazmat outfits, holding up signs protesting smoking in movies.
Kathleen Herlihy, 16, of Geneseo, Livingston County, dressed as Brad Pitt and wore a mortar board around her neck to protest the star's alleged smoking habit and how it makes smoking look cool for kids.
Herlihy, who has been a member of Reality Check since eighth grade, said she likes the idea she's helping a cause. She also said she enjoys meeting other teens and getting to travel as the group did this week. All the teens are staying at Union College dorms during their visit.
Makayla Glover, 16, of Elmira, was part of a group staging a mock awards show that was giving golden coffins, instead of Oscars, to members of the Hollywood elite who encourage smoking in movies. In order to draw attention, Glover wore a red wig and a blue polka-dot dress as a costume.
Glover got involved in Reality Check as an eighth-grader after her mother, who works for Reality Check partner Cornell Cooperative Extension, encouraged her to do so.
"It's showing people that young people care about everyone's health," Glover said.
Teenagers from 13 to 18 are recruited to join Reality Check, often through school-based events. There is one adult Reality Check coordinator in each county, but many of the events are organized by older teens or previous high school leaders who have moved on to college. County chapters typically stage small protests in their own communities and appeal to municipal leaders to support different types of bans on smoking and tobacco advertising.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
SUMMIT 08!
Today we are leaving for the State Wide Youth Summit!
We are super excited... to start Street Teaming!
This summit is going to be action packed and we can't wait to get out there and start educating the public on the Truth behind big tobacco.
peace
We are super excited... to start Street Teaming!
This summit is going to be action packed and we can't wait to get out there and start educating the public on the Truth behind big tobacco.
peace
Friday, June 13, 2008
GOOD NEWS!!!!
Schagticoke Town Board Passed the Point of Purchase Municipality Resolution!
Thanks so much to Brittany and Casey who presented to the town board on Wednesday the 11th. They did a wonderful job. I know they were nervous going into the event, but no one in the room would have been able to tell.
Tonight Reality Check will be at the Relay For Life! We are getting really excited! We will have a tent, a team, food, fun, and we will also be handing out infomration for the Capital District Tobacco Free Coalition.
Check out information on the Relay For Life here.
The next big and up coming event will be the Youth Summit June 25th, 26th, and 27th. Can't wait to get out and work on our street teaming events!
peace
Thanks so much to Brittany and Casey who presented to the town board on Wednesday the 11th. They did a wonderful job. I know they were nervous going into the event, but no one in the room would have been able to tell.
Tonight Reality Check will be at the Relay For Life! We are getting really excited! We will have a tent, a team, food, fun, and we will also be handing out infomration for the Capital District Tobacco Free Coalition.
Check out information on the Relay For Life here.
The next big and up coming event will be the Youth Summit June 25th, 26th, and 27th. Can't wait to get out and work on our street teaming events!
peace
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
$1.25 Tax Increase
The new sales tax went into effect today.
Many smokers in the state will be upset over this, but the evidence supports that a higher price of cigarettes will reduce the number of current smokers and prevent more than 37,000 smoking-caused deaths inNew York
In this country citizens have a choice to smoke or not. If you choose to smoke on a daily basis this does have far reaching effects on all of us tax payers. If we can work to slowly reduce the amount of new smokers, in the future we are doing our community a service. Should we all continually pay for the cigarettes burden and sit silently by while the tobacco industry makes money on a product that is addictive... When a person looses their ability to stop smoking because they are addicted... the idea of freedom and choice get thrown out the window.
The media relishes in sensationalized news... so we are going to probably see some negative responses to the new tax.
check out the New York State's Tobacco Control site for more information.
And also the Capital District Tobacco Free Coalition.
And if you want to quit have you checked out the New York Quit Line?
Here is a positive story:
Anti-smoking advocates applaud NY's new cigarette tax
Have a great day!
Many smokers in the state will be upset over this, but the evidence supports that a higher price of cigarettes will reduce the number of current smokers and prevent more than 37,000 smoking-caused deaths in
In this country citizens have a choice to smoke or not. If you choose to smoke on a daily basis this does have far reaching effects on all of us tax payers. If we can work to slowly reduce the amount of new smokers, in the future we are doing our community a service. Should we all continually pay for the cigarettes burden and sit silently by while the tobacco industry makes money on a product that is addictive... When a person looses their ability to stop smoking because they are addicted... the idea of freedom and choice get thrown out the window.
The media relishes in sensationalized news... so we are going to probably see some negative responses to the new tax.
check out the New York State's Tobacco Control site for more information.
And also the Capital District Tobacco Free Coalition.
And if you want to quit have you checked out the New York Quit Line?
Here is a positive story:
Anti-smoking advocates applaud NY's new cigarette tax
Have a great day!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Mid May update.
We will be holding our celebration for the success of the battle of the bands on Thursday May 28th!!!
I have asked some teens to look around their neighborhoods and identify stores that have a lot of tobacco ads. I hope that we will be able to do a little work on the May 28th meeting, we could write letters to the stores in our own neighborhood...which is true grass routes action!
I contacted the town board of Schodack today, they said the board is holding on a decision weather or not to support our Retail Policy. We will have to wait and see what happens in the next couple of weeks. I think it would be great if we could start distributing the POP information we have to all the people we can to spread the word. But don't let their indecision get you down, it shows we have more educating to do here in Rensselaer County! We have another town board meeting to attend to, this time in Schghticoke on June 11th. Lets hope for the best!
I also placed a thank you add in the Independent identifying the diffrent organizations that have supported Reality Check's No Thanks Big Tobacco Policy.
I will try and place the same thank you add in the Capital Region Weekly the following week.
As far as big events coming, we have a training weekend for youth trainers at the Roaring Brook Ranch on May 30th through June 1st. It should be a lot of fun! This event is all about preparing the youth trainers to lead the youth summit which is taking place June 25th- 27th.
I will keep everyone updated with any new information when I get it.
Thanks!
peace
I have asked some teens to look around their neighborhoods and identify stores that have a lot of tobacco ads. I hope that we will be able to do a little work on the May 28th meeting, we could write letters to the stores in our own neighborhood...which is true grass routes action!
I contacted the town board of Schodack today, they said the board is holding on a decision weather or not to support our Retail Policy. We will have to wait and see what happens in the next couple of weeks. I think it would be great if we could start distributing the POP information we have to all the people we can to spread the word. But don't let their indecision get you down, it shows we have more educating to do here in Rensselaer County! We have another town board meeting to attend to, this time in Schghticoke on June 11th. Lets hope for the best!
I also placed a thank you add in the Independent identifying the diffrent organizations that have supported Reality Check's No Thanks Big Tobacco Policy.
I will try and place the same thank you add in the Capital Region Weekly the following week.
As far as big events coming, we have a training weekend for youth trainers at the Roaring Brook Ranch on May 30th through June 1st. It should be a lot of fun! This event is all about preparing the youth trainers to lead the youth summit which is taking place June 25th- 27th.
I will keep everyone updated with any new information when I get it.
Thanks!
peace
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Tobacco Tax Increasse June 3rd!
Here are some facts from the Center Of Tobacco Free New York
Teenage Smoking
Public Health Impact of $1.25 Cigarette Tax Increase
Tobacco Facts
Tobacco Impact on Health and Health Care Costs
Adult Smoking Rate,
Number of Adult Smokers,
Deaths caused by tobacco,
New Yorkers alive with tobacco-caused illness – 570,000
Annual health care expenditures caused by tobacco, New York 2006 - $8.17 billion
Annual Medicaid expenditures caused by tobacco, New York 2006 - $5.4 billion
Annual tobacco-caused productivity losses from premature death,
Tobacco-caused health costs and productivity losses per pack of cigarettes sold - $21.91
Current average retail price of cigarettes - $5.82
Teenage Smoking
Middle School students who smoke, New York 2006 – 4.1%
High School students who smoke, New York 2006 – 16.3%
Kids under 18 who became regular smokers, New York 2006- 27,700
Youths ages 0 – 17 projected to die from smoking,
Public Health Impact of $1.25 Cigarette Tax Increase
20% increase in price = 5% decrease in adult prevalence = 140,000 fewer adult smokers
140,000 fewer adult smokers = 37,200 fewer tobacco-caused deaths
20% increase in price = 13% decrease in youth prevalence = 9,000 fewer high school smokers
20% increase in price = 243,500 kids alive today who will not become smokers, saving 77,800 from tobacco-caused death
How do we know a tax increase will lead to decreased consumption? A paper, (“Cigarette Demand: A Meta-Analysis of Elasticities,” by Craig A. Gallet and John A. List, published in the Journal Health Economics, V. 12, p.821-835) examined 523 published estimates of cigarette price elasticity from the academic literature. It found a median adult short-run price elasticity of 0.40 (long-run elasticity was 0.44). This means that for every 10 percent increase in price, there is a 4 percent decrease in consumption. About half the decreased consumption is due to adult smokers quitting, and half due to smokers who continue smoking at a reduced rate.
Tobacco News
More and more people are beginning to open their eyes! This has a lot to do with the efforts of teens and adults in New York State who are working hard to educate the community.
Look at this story that was in USA TODAY:
Retail Chains Starting To Put Out Smokes
By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY
Cigarettes are getting harder to find. More retail chains are dropping
them, and for the first time, officials in a few states want to ban
pharmacies from selling them.
This month, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom proposed an unprecedented
city ban on drugstores selling tobacco products, including cigars, pipes
and smokeless tobacco.
"This will be the beginning of a national movement," Newson predicts. He
says he's "absolutely confident" the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
will approve the ban
this month or early in June. It would take effect Oct. 1.
Others are on the same track. Bills are pending in New Hampshire, Illinois
and Tennessee to bar pharmacies with walk-in clinics from selling tobacco,
and a bill in New
York would apply to all pharmacies, including those in big stores such as
Wal-Mart.
"Pharmacies are places we go to get healthy," says Assemblyman Sam Hoyt,
author of the New York proposal. "It just seems inappropriate that on the
other hand, they
sell something that kills." His state borders Canada, where most provinces
don't let pharmacies sell tobacco.
Most independent pharmacies in the USA no longer sell tobacco, but the
drugstore market is dominated by big chains such as Walgreens, CVS and
Rite Aid that do. Target stopped selling tobacco products in 1996.
Bill Phelps, spokesman for Philip Morris USA, the nation's No. 1 cigarette
maker, says the government should not impose bans. "We think retailers
should be able to decide," he says.
More retailers are deciding not to sell tobacco products. A wave of
grocery stores, some with pharmacies and some without, have taken tobacco
off their shelves. Wegmans, which has 70 stores in five states, did so in
February, the same month as two smaller New York-based chains, Budwey's
and DeCicco Family Markets. San Francisco-based Andronico's also quit in
February, and some ShopRites followed in March.
"We're seeing a real trend in which fewer and fewer stores want to be
associated with the harm caused by cigarettes," says Matt Myers, president
of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. As fewer stores sell cigarettes, he
says, "the cultural norm becomes not smoking."
That doesn't necessarily happen, says Gary Nolan, national spokesman for
Citizens Freedom Alliance, a group that defends smokers rights and the
free market.
Smokers won't stop but will be driven to a black market run by smugglers,
he says.
Wegmans found cigarettes profitable and expected negative reaction from
customers when it dropped them, spokeswoman Jo Natale says. She says there
were a few complaints but far more support.
Look at this story that was in USA TODAY:
Retail Chains Starting To Put Out Smokes
By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY
Cigarettes are getting harder to find. More retail chains are dropping
them, and for the first time, officials in a few states want to ban
pharmacies from selling them.
This month, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom proposed an unprecedented
city ban on drugstores selling tobacco products, including cigars, pipes
and smokeless tobacco.
"This will be the beginning of a national movement," Newson predicts. He
says he's "absolutely confident" the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
will approve the ban
this month or early in June. It would take effect Oct. 1.
Others are on the same track. Bills are pending in New Hampshire, Illinois
and Tennessee to bar pharmacies with walk-in clinics from selling tobacco,
and a bill in New
York would apply to all pharmacies, including those in big stores such as
Wal-Mart.
"Pharmacies are places we go to get healthy," says Assemblyman Sam Hoyt,
author of the New York proposal. "It just seems inappropriate that on the
other hand, they
sell something that kills." His state borders Canada, where most provinces
don't let pharmacies sell tobacco.
Most independent pharmacies in the USA no longer sell tobacco, but the
drugstore market is dominated by big chains such as Walgreens, CVS and
Rite Aid that do. Target stopped selling tobacco products in 1996.
Bill Phelps, spokesman for Philip Morris USA, the nation's No. 1 cigarette
maker, says the government should not impose bans. "We think retailers
should be able to decide," he says.
More retailers are deciding not to sell tobacco products. A wave of
grocery stores, some with pharmacies and some without, have taken tobacco
off their shelves. Wegmans, which has 70 stores in five states, did so in
February, the same month as two smaller New York-based chains, Budwey's
and DeCicco Family Markets. San Francisco-based Andronico's also quit in
February, and some ShopRites followed in March.
"We're seeing a real trend in which fewer and fewer stores want to be
associated with the harm caused by cigarettes," says Matt Myers, president
of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. As fewer stores sell cigarettes, he
says, "the cultural norm becomes not smoking."
That doesn't necessarily happen, says Gary Nolan, national spokesman for
Citizens Freedom Alliance, a group that defends smokers rights and the
free market.
Smokers won't stop but will be driven to a black market run by smugglers,
he says.
Wegmans found cigarettes profitable and expected negative reaction from
customers when it dropped them, spokeswoman Jo Natale says. She says there
were a few complaints but far more support.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
WOW!
This blog has been neglected in the last five months! We have been so busy working out in the community that we have had little time to devote to the web. Finally we are happy to announce our new Website!! RealityCheckInfo.com We have worked the blog into the website and we are supper excited to begin using the site as a way to reach out to the community and to local RC members.
So much has been happening in the last few months.
We have had lots of opportunities to speak and educate people within the community.
As a result many local sports teams have been interested in joining with Reality Check by signing NO Thanks You Big Tobacco Policies. We have the C lassie Lassies, South Troy Pop Warner Football, Maple Hill Youth Lacross, and The ValleyCats all joining in to take a stand against big tobacco. We could not be happier to be working with these teams!
We will be focusing on Point Of Purchase education within Rensselaer County. Tobacco signs in our local stores do have a harmful effects on the youth. We would like store owners to consider Reducing, Rearranging, or Removing the tobacco ads in and outside their stores.
DID YOU KNOW:
According to an article on the Association of Retail Tobacco Marketing with Adolescent Smoking. in the American Journal of Public health that THREE OUT OF FOUR TEENS VISIT A CONVENIENCE STORE AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK, AND ONE IN FOUR MAKE DAILY VISITS TO CONVENIENCE STORES.
This is important when considering that the tobacco industry needs replacement smokers to stay in business. If tobacco companies aren't suppose to be advertising to teens yet have been investing large sums of money into retail advertisement they are able to find a large youth audience.
In New York alone, the tobacco industry spends and estimated $516 million annually on marketing its products! (U.S. Federal Trade Commission (2005). Cigarette Report for 2003., 2005. Washington, D.C., Federal Trade Commission).
You may be thinking well sure! Its a capitalistic society, companies NEED to advertise BUT consider the facts when we are discussing the Tobacco Industry:
They understand how to make money, they invest large sums of money into researching the market.
If studies show:
Kids are more than twice as likely as adults to recall tobacco advertising two weeks latter according to a national telephone survey conducted by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.
The average age at which smokers try their first cigarette is 14 1/2. ( Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report of the Surgeon General, US Dept. of Health and Human Services. 1994. )
Nearly 30% of youth ages 18-24 currently smoke New York State compared to the 18% of all adults. (RTI International. (2005). Independent Evaluation ofNew York Research Triangle Park , NC
Tobacco ads, which often make smoking look cool or glamorous are created to appeal to teens. In addition, tobacco advertisements are often placed low, at child's eye levle, or next to candy or toys. (Feighery, E.C., Ribisi, K.M., Schleicher, N., Lee, R.E., & Halvorson, S. (2001). Cigarette advertising and Promotional Strategies in Retail Outlets: Results of a Statewide Survey inCalifornia
If the tobacco industry Really wanted to protect youth and teens from smoking, wouldn't they evaluate the studies and shift their in store marketing?
Do they need all those colorful signs??? Can't they just announce their sales in black and white? Should their sales reps be encouraging certain types of ad placement?? In fact the box of cigarettes themselves are an in store advertising attempt. DO THEY NEED all that pink, purple, blue? IN FACT do they need all those flavored tobacco products?
Reality Check is not supporting a reduction of freedom of speech... We value our amendments and rights.
We are asking store owners to consider the evidence on their own, and make a decision about the type of ads they will allow in their stores.
We don't want the government regulating everything, what you can and can not do in all aspects of your life... but we do want the TRUTH behind what motivates the tobacco industry to behave the way it has in the past and how it currently markets cigarettes.
We feel we must educate the community! Its really the only way! The tobacco industry has everything to gain if we don't, and the young people who are constantly finding themselves in an environment that promotes smoking is setting up a foundational mindset that favors a company who has been found to be unethical in their business practices (just read about the 1998 settlement agreement and the tobacco documents).
Point blank, they are not regulated on a cigarette's ingredients (hundreds of chemicals can be found in 1 single cigarette). They sell a nicotine delivery system (meaning they sell a drug, nicotine, is what daily smokers want...they are a drug company) that is DANGEROUS! If you use their product as it is intended, it will harm you and if you continue to use that product it could kill you! How long did it take for them to even admit their product was dangerous, how many conflicting studies did they support to confuse the public and put the doubt in the minds of consumers to hold off on making changes to their business?? CAN THEY BE TRUSTED?
So please if you are in a store, take a look around, and see the situation from a child's or a young teen's eye.
Help us get the information out there to all the local retailers; Tobacco marketing is something we should all be watching and evaluating when it comes to the future of our kids.
The toll of tobacco is a health epidemic in this county...in this VERY State where 25,000 deaths per year make it the leading cause of preventable death! (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2005). Tobacco Control Highlights, State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System [Online]. Retrieved March 1, 2006 from http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/statestystem/. )
Our tax dollars go to pay a growing health bill from the use of tobacco. We shouldn't just let things remain as they are, not if we can educate and change the present situation.
Thanks!
So much has been happening in the last few months.
We have had lots of opportunities to speak and educate people within the community.
As a result many local sports teams have been interested in joining with Reality Check by signing NO Thanks You Big Tobacco Policies. We have the C lassie Lassies, South Troy Pop Warner Football, Maple Hill Youth Lacross, and The ValleyCats all joining in to take a stand against big tobacco. We could not be happier to be working with these teams!
We will be focusing on Point Of Purchase education within Rensselaer County. Tobacco signs in our local stores do have a harmful effects on the youth. We would like store owners to consider Reducing, Rearranging, or Removing the tobacco ads in and outside their stores.
DID YOU KNOW:
According to an article on the Association of Retail Tobacco Marketing with Adolescent Smoking. in the American Journal of Public health that THREE OUT OF FOUR TEENS VISIT A CONVENIENCE STORE AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK, AND ONE IN FOUR MAKE DAILY VISITS TO CONVENIENCE STORES.
This is important when considering that the tobacco industry needs replacement smokers to stay in business. If tobacco companies aren't suppose to be advertising to teens yet have been investing large sums of money into retail advertisement they are able to find a large youth audience.
In New York alone, the tobacco industry spends and estimated $516 million annually on marketing its products! (U.S. Federal Trade Commission (2005). Cigarette Report for 2003., 2005. Washington, D.C., Federal Trade Commission).
You may be thinking well sure! Its a capitalistic society, companies NEED to advertise BUT consider the facts when we are discussing the Tobacco Industry:
They understand how to make money, they invest large sums of money into researching the market.
If studies show:
Kids are more than twice as likely as adults to recall tobacco advertising two weeks latter according to a national telephone survey conducted by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.
The average age at which smokers try their first cigarette is 14 1/2. ( Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report of the Surgeon General, US Dept. of Health and Human Services. 1994. )
Nearly 30% of youth ages 18-24 currently smoke New York State compared to the 18% of all adults. (RTI International. (2005). Independent Evaluation of
Tobacco ads, which often make smoking look cool or glamorous are created to appeal to teens. In addition, tobacco advertisements are often placed low, at child's eye levle, or next to candy or toys. (Feighery, E.C., Ribisi, K.M., Schleicher, N., Lee, R.E., & Halvorson, S. (2001). Cigarette advertising and Promotional Strategies in Retail Outlets: Results of a Statewide Survey in
If the tobacco industry Really wanted to protect youth and teens from smoking, wouldn't they evaluate the studies and shift their in store marketing?
Do they need all those colorful signs??? Can't they just announce their sales in black and white? Should their sales reps be encouraging certain types of ad placement?? In fact the box of cigarettes themselves are an in store advertising attempt. DO THEY NEED all that pink, purple, blue? IN FACT do they need all those flavored tobacco products?
Reality Check is not supporting a reduction of freedom of speech... We value our amendments and rights.
We are asking store owners to consider the evidence on their own, and make a decision about the type of ads they will allow in their stores.
We don't want the government regulating everything, what you can and can not do in all aspects of your life... but we do want the TRUTH behind what motivates the tobacco industry to behave the way it has in the past and how it currently markets cigarettes.
We feel we must educate the community! Its really the only way! The tobacco industry has everything to gain if we don't, and the young people who are constantly finding themselves in an environment that promotes smoking is setting up a foundational mindset that favors a company who has been found to be unethical in their business practices (just read about the 1998 settlement agreement and the tobacco documents).
Point blank, they are not regulated on a cigarette's ingredients (hundreds of chemicals can be found in 1 single cigarette). They sell a nicotine delivery system (meaning they sell a drug, nicotine, is what daily smokers want...they are a drug company) that is DANGEROUS! If you use their product as it is intended, it will harm you and if you continue to use that product it could kill you! How long did it take for them to even admit their product was dangerous, how many conflicting studies did they support to confuse the public and put the doubt in the minds of consumers to hold off on making changes to their business?? CAN THEY BE TRUSTED?
So please if you are in a store, take a look around, and see the situation from a child's or a young teen's eye.
Help us get the information out there to all the local retailers; Tobacco marketing is something we should all be watching and evaluating when it comes to the future of our kids.
The toll of tobacco is a health epidemic in this county...in this VERY State where 25,000 deaths per year make it the leading cause of preventable death! (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2005). Tobacco Control Highlights, State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System [Online]. Retrieved March 1, 2006 from http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/statestystem/. )
Our tax dollars go to pay a growing health bill from the use of tobacco. We shouldn't just let things remain as they are, not if we can educate and change the present situation.
Thanks!
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