Press Releases
Youth Set to Kick Tobacco Out of Our Community
Baton Rouge area youth are among thousands of youth across Louisiana and the country who are taking part in Kick Butts Day today, a nationwide initiative by young leaders in the effort to stop youth tobacco use. Approximately 200 students will participate in a rally and cheering competition centered around the question – What is 33,755? – to raise awareness about the alarming number of Louisiana high school students that smoke daily. The rally and competition will be held at Baton Rouge Community College, 5310 Florida Boulevard/Foster Drive entrance, outside the Magnolia Library from 10am until 12:30pm.
The 2009 Kick Butts Day theme Kicking Tobacco Out of Our Community brings attention to youth tobacco use in Louisiana and the tobacco industrys deceptive marketing practices that directly target children.
In Louisiana alone, the tobacco industry spends $291.5 million dollars each year to aggressively market tobacco products. While cigarette companies claim they have stopped intentionally marketing to or targeting youth in their research and promotional efforts, they continue to advertise cigarettes and other tobacco products in ways that reach young people such as advertisements in national magazines with high youth readership, sponsorship of community events, concerts and festivals, and heavy display advertising at convenience stores and gas stations near schools and playgrounds.
You dont have to look far to see the abundance of tobacco products advertised in store windows both inside and out. Point of purchase advertising and tobacco promotions such as price discounts and branded gifts with a purchase, many placed at the eye level of children and displayed right next to the candy, are pervasive in gas stations and convenience stores, says Pam Malveaux, Regional Coordinator of The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living. Tobacco advertising is blatant and young people are the target.
Each year more than 14.8 million packs of cigarettes are purchased or smoked by Louisiana youth and 6,600 young people in the state become new daily smokers each year, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Louisianas 2008 Youth Tobacco Survey (YTS) of middle and high school students shows that nearly 19 percent of high school students and 10 percent of middle school students smoke cigarettes. Ultimately 109,000 Louisiana youth (currently under the age of 18) will die prematurely from smoking.
Reducing youth tobacco use in Louisiana must be top priority and increasing the price of tobacco is a proven strategy that would prevent youth initiation in Louisiana, promote quitting among youth and adults, and save lives, adds Malveaux. Louisiana is at the bottom of the pack when it comes to excise taxes on tobacco products. At a mere 36 cents per pack our state ranks 45th with one of the lowest state tobacco taxes in the country.
Studies, and experience in state after state, show that higher cigarette and tobacco taxes are one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking among both youth and adults. Every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduces youth smoking by about seven percent and overall cigarette consumption by about four percent. For example, a one dollar increase in Louisianas tobacco tax could mean approximately 48,800 fewer youth smokers and save roughly 22,600 Louisiana smokers from an early death due to tobacco use.
Our youth are a powerful part of the solution to reducing youth tobacco use, says Malveaux. On Kick Butts Day, students send two important messages: they want the tobacco industry to stop targeting them with blatant advertising and they want their elected leaders to do more to protect them from tobacco. Supporting the proposed increase in Louisianas tobacco tax is a good start.
