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campaign for tobacco free kids

Local youth fight back against ‘Big Tobacco’

By Press Release
batavia-attica-rc-matl-2024.jpg
Reality Check advocates Sophia Biniaszewski, Trinnity Whatle and Judith Newton use a selfie frame to tell Big Tobacco what they think about their products and marketing.
Submitted photo.

Press Release:

Last week, Abbi Leone and Judith Newton, both juniors at Batavia High School, as well as Attica High School ninth graders Sophia Biniaszewski and Trinnity Whatle, joined more than fifty youths and advocates from nine national organizations to protest Altria Group, Inc.’s 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. 

These advocates held a demonstration outside Altria’s Washington, D.C. office, while several youth activists had proxy tickets to directly address Altria’s executives and ask questions during the virtual shareholders’ meeting.

“I’m so proud of Abbi, Judith, Sophia, and Trinnity for fighting against the manipulative tactics the tobacco industry uses to target them,” said Brittany Bozzer, Youth Coordinator at Tobacco-Free Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming (TF-GOW). “Now that they have shared their voice in Washington, D.C., they plan to continue to address the challenges of tobacco use in their communities back home, as well as mobilize their peers to take action.” 

This year marks the ninth consecutive year that Mobilize Against Tobacco Lies (MATL), a collaborative of youth programs and national partners, gathered to expose and fight back against the tobacco giant’s lies.

Reality Check youth from across New York State rallied with a coalition of tobacco control youth programs and national partners including Dover Youth to Youth of New Hampshire, Wisconsin FACT, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Traditional Tobacco Voices, American Indian Cancer Foundation, Corporate Accountability, Counter Tools, Center for Black Health and Equity and Truth Initiative.

Altria and its Philip Morris subsidiary sell the number one most popular cigarette brand among kids, Marlboro, and its John Middleton subsidiary sells one of the most popular cigar brands among kids, Black and Mild. Altria has a long history of targeting kids and other vulnerable groups with its products and invested in Juul at the height of the youth e-cigarette epidemic. 

Altria claims to be “moving beyond smoking,” but the truth is that they make most of their revenue from cigarettes and fight real efforts to reduce smoking – such as bans on menthol cigarettes.

Despite Altria and the tobacco industry’s efforts, the United States has made great progress in reducing youth smoking. However, the latest government survey shows that 2.8 million U.S middle and high school students still use tobacco products, including 2.13 million who use e-cigarettes.

Reality Check is a teen-led, adult-run program that seeks to prevent and decrease tobacco use among young people throughout New York State.  

For more information about Reality Check, visit realitycheckofny.org. 

Anti-tobacco groups say widespread industry ads hook kids on smoking

By Billie Owens

Here's a news release sent today from Kevin J. Keenan, coordinator of Smoke Free NOW. One of the group's goals is to have "Tobacco Free Grocery" in Genesee County.

The tobacco industry currently spends more than $12.8 billion to promote their products throughout the United States. This includes payments to licensed tobacco retailers to put their products in the most visible locations inside the store.

As a result, New York State residents, including people under 18, are exposed to a substantial amount of tobacco marketing.

According to Smoke Free NOW, a recent survey of retailers selling tobacco products in Genesee, Wyoming and Orleans counties, found an average of 15 to 18 ads promoting those products in the stores. That range is in keeping with tobacco retailers' ad displays nationwide.

Other facts about the tobacco industry:

  • In 2006, tobacco companies spent $12.5 billion nationally on advertising, promotions, and price discounts for wholesalers and retailers. That is more than the amount spent to market junk food, soda and alcohol combined: junk
    food and soda companies spent $4.65 billion, and alcohol companies spent $3.13 billion (2005).
  • In New York State, the tobacco industry spends approximately $1.1 million per day to market its products.
  • Almost every licensed tobacco retailer displays tobacco product advertising, with an average of 18 ads per store.
  • Tobacco companies place most of their advertising where young people
    shop — in convenience stores, where 75 percent of teenagers shop at least once a week.

The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids maintains that such point-of-purchase advertising and promotion directly influences what products and brands kids buy and use.

More alarmingly, point-of-purchase advertising and promotions may have a direct impact not only on what brands of cigarettes kids buy, but also on the number of kids who buy cigarettes.

In New York State, there are too many kids getting hooked on tobacco; in large part due to the influence of tobacco marketing. It’s time to understand the real story, says Smoke Free NOW.

For more information, contact www.TobaccoFreeGrocery.org or call 585-815-1875.

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