KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON - Youth across King County will step up to the front lines of the tobacco wars during the week of April 5, 2000 in support of the fifth annual Kick Butts Day. Several events are planned around the county this week.
Kick Butts Day 2000 comes just two weeks after tobacco was thrust back into the headlines by the U.S. Supreme Court's Ruling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's authority to regulate tobacco products. While ruling on a 5-4 vote that the FDA currently does not have the authority to regulate tobacco (including restrictions on marketing and sales to kids), the Court put the spotlight on Congress to act. The Supreme Court calls tobacco use, particularly among children and adolescents, "the single most significant threat to public health in the United States."
Kick Butts day will also focus attention on state legislators as they debate how to use the tobacco settlement money to effectively reduce tobacco use in this state.
"Keeping our kids from using tobacco is of the utmost importance," said Dr. Alonzo Plough, Director of Public Health - Seattle & King County. "If we can keep our children free from tobacco addiction until they are 18 years old, the chances are great that they will never start using it."
Every day, over 6,000 kids smoke cigarettes or use spit tobacco for the first time. Thousands of them become regular users of cigarettes or chewing tobacco. One third of these regular smokers will die prematurely from tobacco-related disease.
"Kids are particularly effective advocates against youth tobacco use when they speak with one voice - as they do on Kick Butts Day," said Matthew Myers, president of the CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO FREE KIDS. "Their peers - and adults - listen to them when they talk about how kids are targeted as replacement tobacco users for the 400,000 smokers who die every year from their tobacco-related diseases."
Public Health–Seattle & King County will be working with youth volunteers as well as other organizations throughout the county to call attention to a variety of tobacco issues. Youth will take the lead in the fight against tobacco, organizing creative events that highlight the dangers of tobacco use and the tobacco industry's manipulative marketing practices. Activities include:
- Working with the Washington State Nurses Association and the Girl Scouts, youth from the Puget Sound region will be handing out information on the dangers of exposure to second-hand smoke, and highlighting the fact that Washington State Ferries are not smoke free.
- Other youth volunteers will work with staff from Public Health to conduct numerous tobacco compliance checks, assuring that retailers are not selling tobacco products to minors.
- Public Health staff will also be working with the Washington State Oral Health Foundation to bring Rick Bender, Montana Cowboy and former professional baseball player, to two rural schools in King County - Skykomish High School and Cedarcrest High School. Rick is the survivor of mouth cancer, brought on by his use of smokeless tobacco. This cancer cost him part of his face and jaw. Rick tells a dramatic story about the dangers of smokeless or spit tobacco.
Kick Butts Day is sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The campaign is the largest non-governmental initiative ever undertaken to reduce youth tobacco use in the United States.
Information about the deadly toll of tobacco in our society can be found at: www.tobaccofreekids.org.
