Across America, youth are making a huge difference in the fight against tobacco—the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. We’re educating each other about the dangers of tobacco, pushing back against tobacco marketing and calling on public officials to support tobacco prevention policies.
Since the mid-1990s, youth smoking rates have been cut nearly in half.
But the fight against tobacco is far from over – not when nearly one in five high school students still smokes. Earlier this month, the latest report from the U.S. Surgeon General warned that youth smoking is still a “pediatric epidemic.” More than 3.6 million middle and high school students still smoke – and nearly 4,000 more kids try their first cigarette each day. That’s 4,000 too many.
The Surgeon General’s report says tobacco marketing causes kids to start and continue using tobacco products. Tobacco companies spend $10.5 billion a year – more than one million dollars an hour – to make their products look cool and fun.
Most troubling of all, the Surgeon General’s report found that, for every tobacco-related death in the United States, two more youth and young adults become regular smokers. We have to cut off this pipeline of “replacement smokers” and create a tobacco-free generation.
That’s why it’s so important for youth to stand up and fight this problem – for ourselves, our friends and our families.
Kick Butts Day on March 21 is the perfect way to do it. All around the country, thousands of youth will hold events such as “They put WHAT in a cigarette” demonstrations, health fairs, video contests and even rallies at state capitols.
We want our generation to reject tobacco, but we also want our elected officials to support the policies the Surgeon General just said reduce tobacco use. These include higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws and well-funded tobacco prevention programs.
At my Kick Butts Day event last year, we organized a health fair about how tobacco use causes heart disease. Students also signed petitions urging our city council to make municipal parks smoke-free. And we won!
When the smoke-free parks initiative passed, we showed that youth can make a real difference.
This year, we’re proud that the United Health Foundation is sponsoring Kick Butts Day and partnering with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids to help cut the youth smoking rate by 25 percent by 2015. Together, we can empower youth leaders across America and prevent this generation from becoming “replacement smokers.”
by Abby Michaelsen, National Youth Advocate of the Year, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids