An Anti-Smoking Campaign Aims to Improve Our Quality Of Life
March 10th, 2008
By Assembly Member Lou Tobacco
Disturbingly, the average starting age of individuals who become daily smokers is 14.5 years and 90 percent of smokers begin this deadly habit before the age of 18. Due to these frightful statistics, nicotine addiction must be considered a pediatric disease, a fact of which tobacco companies are well aware.
That is why it is so important to target our children in my anti-smoking campaign, the same audience that tobacco companies are trying to hook on nicotine. I recently launched the “Tobacco Against Tobacco” campaign at Public School 6 in an effort to educate New York City children about all the harmful effects of smoking. The program aims to influence them at a young age so that they never start smoking in the first place. It also seeks to encourage our teens to kick the habit.
Building a healthier community starts with reaching out to younger generations in order to convince them that smoking has serious life-long consequences and informing them of the dangers of lighting up. With Staten Island’s youth smoking at more than twice the rate of their counterparts in the other four boroughs, the battle to improve the quality of life for Staten Islanders and New York City as a whole begins by winning the minds of our young people.
To win the minds of our young people, my “Tobacco Against Tobacco” campaign will focus on informing our younger generations about the dangers of lighting up that first cigarette. Our children, whether they are six or sixteen, need to know the health risk associated with smoking if we are going to make strides towards preventing them from ever starting.
Cigarette companies continue to target young people who have a natural preference for sweet flavors by using hip marketing themes like ‘Caribbean Chill,’ ‘Midnight Berry,’ ‘Mocha Taboo’ and ‘Mintrigue’ to promote teen smoking. My campaign’s goal is to warn younger generations about these types of cigarettes, which may seem like harmless candy, but are in fact a gateway to a lifetime addiction to smoking nicotine.
Building on my “Tobacco Against Tobacco” campaign, I am also working with Assemblyman Matthew Titone to help pass legislation that he sponsors which would prohibit the advertisement of tobacco products on buses, bus stations and other mass transit vehicles that receive state aid or funding.
With smoking-related illness costing people their health, and costing the state $5.4 billion in Medicaid fees and $6 billion dollars in lost productivity, it is critical for us to reduce smoking rates in order to enrich the lives of New Yorkers and save the state billions in medical expenses.
While we face many challenges in preventing our youth from smoking, we can go a long way towards accomplishing our mission of changing teen perceptions of smoking and making sure that city residents kick the habit. Together we can make great strides towards eradicating this deadly addiction.
Lou Tobacco is a Republican representing parts of Staten Island in the Assembly.
Disturbingly, the average starting age of individuals who become daily smokers is 14.5 years and 90 percent of smokers begin this deadly habit before the age of 18. Due to these frightful statistics, nicotine addiction must be considered a pediatric disease, a fact of which tobacco companies are well aware.
That is why it is so important to target our children in my anti-smoking campaign, the same audience that tobacco companies are trying to hook on nicotine. I recently launched the “Tobacco Against Tobacco” campaign at Public School 6 in an effort to educate New York City children about all the harmful effects of smoking. The program aims to influence them at a young age so that they never start smoking in the first place. It also seeks to encourage our teens to kick the habit.
Building a healthier community starts with reaching out to younger generations in order to convince them that smoking has serious life-long consequences and informing them of the dangers of lighting up. With Staten Island’s youth smoking at more than twice the rate of their counterparts in the other four boroughs, the battle to improve the quality of life for Staten Islanders and New York City as a whole begins by winning the minds of our young people.
To win the minds of our young people, my “Tobacco Against Tobacco” campaign will focus on informing our younger generations about the dangers of lighting up that first cigarette. Our children, whether they are six or sixteen, need to know the health risk associated with smoking if we are going to make strides towards preventing them from ever starting.
Cigarette companies continue to target young people who have a natural preference for sweet flavors by using hip marketing themes like ‘Caribbean Chill,’ ‘Midnight Berry,’ ‘Mocha Taboo’ and ‘Mintrigue’ to promote teen smoking. My campaign’s goal is to warn younger generations about these types of cigarettes, which may seem like harmless candy, but are in fact a gateway to a lifetime addiction to smoking nicotine.
Building on my “Tobacco Against Tobacco” campaign, I am also working with Assemblyman Matthew Titone to help pass legislation that he sponsors which would prohibit the advertisement of tobacco products on buses, bus stations and other mass transit vehicles that receive state aid or funding.
With smoking-related illness costing people their health, and costing the state $5.4 billion in Medicaid fees and $6 billion dollars in lost productivity, it is critical for us to reduce smoking rates in order to enrich the lives of New Yorkers and save the state billions in medical expenses.
While we face many challenges in preventing our youth from smoking, we can go a long way towards accomplishing our mission of changing teen perceptions of smoking and making sure that city residents kick the habit. Together we can make great strides towards eradicating this deadly addiction.
Lou Tobacco is a Republican representing parts of Staten Island in the Assembly.
