Don't be a Target for Tobacco

Source from:  By Stefanie E. Garcia 11/13/2008 11/14/2008

It's inevitable. At some point today, I will see a smoking advertisement. Whether it's at the market or drugstore, in a magazine or at major sporting event, this 14-year-old will see a tobacco ad. I'm a tobacco industry target. Take, for example, sponsorships. If you enjoy the thrill of race car driving, you're sure to see a cigarette brand name written in white across the chest of some driver in a red jumpsuit. Pretty packaging is another sleek marketing technique used by tobacco companies. I must admit, Camel No. 9's slick black box with pink and teal accents appeared attractive when shown to me. However, possessing a pretty black box doesn't impart glamour and is not worth the heavy price of chronic diseases later in life. The number of adult smokers in the country is falling as people become aware of the dangers and consequences of smoking. More adults are quitting, which is why the tobacco industry is targeting us teens. It's obvious their marketing teams have done their homework. Today's tobacco advertisements emphasize coolness, fun and sexiness -- characteristics that define being a teenager. They boast cigarettes that have different flavors and present them in boxes designed to lure teens. Unfortunately, you can find these ads close to our schools. The billions of dollars they invest in advertising, sponsorship and other forms of promotion to entice teenagers like me to smoke are paying off. Every day, approximately 4,000 children between 12 and 17 years old smoke their first cigarette; an estimated 1,300 of them will become regular smokers. A Harvard School of Public Health study, "The Global Burden of Disease," reveals that if current trends continue, 250 million of today's children will eventually die from tobacco-related diseases. The tobacco companies say they've cut back on advertisement and don't market to youth, yet they do. According to the Senate HELP Committee in 2007, the average youth in the United States was exposed to 559 tobacco ads between 1998 and 2005. Well, tobacco companies, I won't be one of your statistics. I won't help in your mission of targeting the youth, nor will I be one of the 438,000 people in the United States who die annually from tobacco-caused diseases. It's not cool to smoke. It's not sexy. And, I don't think it's fun to have health problems. I don't want to experience respiratory illnesses, decreased physical fitness or potential retardation in my lung development and function. Fact is fact: Smoking is a health hazard. It leads to chronic respiratory problems, lung cancer, heart disease and strokes to list a few. Tobacco companies know this. Studies have proven the dangers of tobacco over and over again. Yet they still promote their product to teenagers like me. I want to be healthy. I value my life and the lives of those around me. Tobacco companies just don't get it. Or worse, they just don't care. Enditem