Brentwood Youth Declare First "Seen Enough Tobacco Day'

December 13, 2017-Youth across New York State declared Friday, October 13 as the first ever “Seen Enough Tobacco Day” to protect themselves and other youth from the billions of dollars of tobacco promotions in places where they can be influenced by them.

Youth members from Reality Check LI partnered with Youth Enrichment Services and North Middle School in Brentwood to raise awareness about the impact of tobacco marketing on youth smoking initiation. Students participated in “Chalk the Walk” activity that educated the community about the day.

Findings on youth tobacco use and tobacco industry marketing in places where children and young adolescents can see them indicate:

• The average age of a new smoker is 13 years old
• 90 percent of adult smokers say they first tried smoking by age 18.
• The U.S. tobacco industry spent an estimated $9.5 billion on advertising and promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in 2013. This includes nearly $220 million annually in New York State, or nearly $602,000 a day.

Stores near schools contain nearly three times the amount of tobacco advertisements compared to other stores in the same community. In addition to areas around schools, tobacco companies market more heavily in low income areas. Let’s put an end to youth smoking and other tobacco use and create a tobacco-free generation!

To learn more go to www.SeenEnoughTobacco.org.

Reality Check LI is the youth action component of the Tobacco Action Coalition of LI. Tobacco Action Coalition of Long Island is an advancing tobacco –free communities grant funded by the New York State Bureau of Tobacco Control administered by the American Lung Association.