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Teens March to State House on Kick Butts Day
Over 300 youth marched through the Boston Common on their way to meet with legislators about tobacco companies' new tactics.
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March 24, 2011
Anti-tobacco efforts have traditionally focused on stopping kids from lighting up, and they've worked: currently, 84 percent of teens in Massachusetts don't smoke. But as the number of young smokers declines, another has been rising: the number of kids who use tobacco in new ways most adults don't even know exist.
Chocolate- and grape-flavored cigars in brightly colored packaging sit next to other tobacco products that look like they might contain mints or candy on store shelves, often at kids' eye-level. Activists see these items, including tobacco that dissolves like Tic-Tacs, as examples of the industry's latest savvy marketing practices, designed to create a new generation of users.
It was these products - so-called Other Tobacco Products (OTPs) - that anti-tobacco groups focused on during Kick Butts Day at the Massachusetts State House.
Kick Butts Day is a national event highlighting the dangers of tobacco use. In Boston, the event is run by The 84, a youth-led anti-tobacco movement managed by Health Resources in Action and funded by the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program. The group sought to raise awareness about OTPs among state lawmakers and the public at large during the event Wednesday.
More than 300 youth from across the state started the day with training on how to talk to legislators. They practiced introducing themselves, briefly explaining why they came, and inviting legislators to an afternoon.
Training led to a raucous march across the Boston Common chanting slogans such as "We are the 84, we won't take this anymore!" and "Wake up to the truth, big tobacco targets you!"
Once inside the State House, participants fanned to meet with legislators.
"They seemed to be more interested in it than we expected," said Matt Lee of Greenfield.
When Erin Thibault, an aide to Rep. Shaunna O'Connell, was shown a few OTPs by members of the Silver City Teen Center in Taunton, her jaw dropped.
"You're kidding," Thibault, who wasn't aware of OTPs, said in astonishment. Thaddeus Figlock, one of Silver City's members, told her how easy it was for parents to overlook OTPs because they look like candy.
Figlock, like many of the teens who participated in Kick Butts Day, has a personal connection to tobacco's destruction. His grandmother has lung cancer and is fighting for her life after a recent operation in which one of her lungs was removed. She started smoking when she was 15.
The rate of youth OTP use now exceeds cigarette use according to Brittany Chen, a project manager for The 84 at HRiA "It's no longer just a cigarette issue. The tobacco industry has been shifting it's tactics through the promotion of these attractive, cheap, and widely available OTPs."
"(The tobacco industry) is clearly doing everything in their power to get teenagers hooked," Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach told a large crowd of youth, legislators and tobacco experts at the afternoon rally. "The best tool, in terms of fighting this, is your voice, your activism."
State Sen. Susan Fargo echoed Auerbach, reminding the assembled youth "this is war and you folks are the front line."
Chocolate- and grape-flavored cigars in brightly colored packaging sit next to other tobacco products that look like they might contain mints or candy on store shelves, often at kids' eye-level. Activists see these items, including tobacco that dissolves like Tic-Tacs, as examples of the industry's latest savvy marketing practices, designed to create a new generation of users.
It was these products - so-called Other Tobacco Products (OTPs) - that anti-tobacco groups focused on during Kick Butts Day at the Massachusetts State House.
Kick Butts Day is a national event highlighting the dangers of tobacco use. In Boston, the event is run by The 84, a youth-led anti-tobacco movement managed by Health Resources in Action and funded by the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program. The group sought to raise awareness about OTPs among state lawmakers and the public at large during the event Wednesday.
More than 300 youth from across the state started the day with training on how to talk to legislators. They practiced introducing themselves, briefly explaining why they came, and inviting legislators to an afternoon.
Training led to a raucous march across the Boston Common chanting slogans such as "We are the 84, we won't take this anymore!" and "Wake up to the truth, big tobacco targets you!"
Once inside the State House, participants fanned to meet with legislators.
"They seemed to be more interested in it than we expected," said Matt Lee of Greenfield.
When Erin Thibault, an aide to Rep. Shaunna O'Connell, was shown a few OTPs by members of the Silver City Teen Center in Taunton, her jaw dropped.
"You're kidding," Thibault, who wasn't aware of OTPs, said in astonishment. Thaddeus Figlock, one of Silver City's members, told her how easy it was for parents to overlook OTPs because they look like candy.
Figlock, like many of the teens who participated in Kick Butts Day, has a personal connection to tobacco's destruction. His grandmother has lung cancer and is fighting for her life after a recent operation in which one of her lungs was removed. She started smoking when she was 15.
The rate of youth OTP use now exceeds cigarette use according to Brittany Chen, a project manager for The 84 at HRiA "It's no longer just a cigarette issue. The tobacco industry has been shifting it's tactics through the promotion of these attractive, cheap, and widely available OTPs."
"(The tobacco industry) is clearly doing everything in their power to get teenagers hooked," Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach told a large crowd of youth, legislators and tobacco experts at the afternoon rally. "The best tool, in terms of fighting this, is your voice, your activism."
State Sen. Susan Fargo echoed Auerbach, reminding the assembled youth "this is war and you folks are the front line."
Over 300 youth from across the state answered The 84's call for a day of action at the State House in Boston on March 23, 2011.
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