Don’t smoke. That was the message from kids in Hawaii on Wednesday on the 19th annual Kick Butts Day. Students from the Child and Youth Programs at the Pacific Missile Range Facility Youth Center in Kekaha got involved, too, by
Don’t smoke.
That was the message from kids in Hawaii on Wednesday on the 19th annual Kick Butts Day.
Students from the Child and Youth Programs at the Pacific Missile Range Facility Youth Center in Kekaha got involved, too, by hanging jeans in a visual display to demonstrate the number of people killed by tobacco each hour.
Despite the many reports highlighting the health hazards of tobacco use, millions of people continue to smoke cigarettes. They do so because they’re addicted, and it’s a vice that will take determination, professional help and family commitments to beat.
In Hawaii alone, tobacco use claims 1,200 lives and costs $526 million in health care bills each year. Currently, 10.1 percent of the state’s high school students smoke.
The best way to win the battle with tobacco use is to not smoke. That’s why we like Kick Butts Day. It aims to prevent young people from ever lighting up a cigarette, and that’s a good thing.
On Kick Butts Day, events ranged from small classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to large rallies at state capitols.
Organized by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Kick Butts Day is an annual celebration of youth leadership and activism in the fight against tobacco. On Kick Butts Day, youth will encourage their peers to stay tobacco-free and educate their communities about the tobacco industry’s harmful marketing practices.
This year, Kick Butts Day comes as new information reaffirms the urgent need for action. The United States is marking the 50th anniversary of the first Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health, and a new Surgeon General’s report released in January found that smoking is even more hazardous than previously thought. Key findings of the report include:
• Each year, smoking kills 480,000 people in the U.S. and costs the nation at least $289 billion in health care bills and other economic losses.
• Without urgent action to reduce smoking, 5.6 million U.S. children alive today will die prematurely from smoking-caused disease. That includes 21,000 children in Hawaii alone.
• Tobacco marketing causes kids to start and continue using tobacco products.
• Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $8.8 billion a year – one million dollars each hour – to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products. In particular, tobacco companies target youth with magazine ads, store ads and discounts, and fruit- and candy-flavored small cigars that look just like cigarettes.
Our only advice on smoking is this: Don’t.
“On Kick Butts Day, kids will stand up and reject Big Tobacco’s manipulative marketing,” said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “Elected officials must stand with them by supporting proven measures to protect kids from tobacco addiction, including tobacco taxes, smoke-free laws and prevention programs. On the 50th anniversary of the first Surgeon General’s report, we need bold action to create a tobacco-free generation and end the tobacco epidemic for good.”
