Surgeon General and youth kick butts

BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) - U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin joined over 250 young people at the Massachusetts State House Wednesday for the annual Kick Butts Day.  Together, they’re raising awareness on the dangers of tobacco products and how young people are particularly targeted to become lifelong smokers.  

“Every single day, more than 1,200 American die from smoking and each one of those people who die are being replaced by two young smokers,” said Dr. Benjamin, adding that 90 percent of those new smokers start before the age of 18. 

As part of their anti-tobacco campaign, the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program put on a “carnival of tricks,” an illustrative and interactive series of display boards that show how Big Tobacco markets their products to young kids using price, packaging and availability.

“They’re making their products really colorful and cheap.  Some are actually cheaper than a pack of gum,” said Tien Hua, a young member of the Pioneer Valley AHEC.  Hua pulled out a collage of photos featuring rapper Lil Wayne and other models.  “These are pictures of Lil Wayne and he actually promotes other tobacco products and we’re just trying to show how the tobacco industry uses prominent figures in America to promote the products to children.”

In response to the cheap prices and flashy packaging of tobacco products, youth advocates are supporting the governor’s proposed 50-cent tax hike on cigarettes to deter young people from substituting their candy for tobacco.

“It’ll help because it will make it harder for youth to get them because they’re more expensive, which will make them [buy] something else, like buying a chapstick instead of a cigarillo,” said Nathan Diaz, a youth advocate from Springfield REACH.

According to the Department of Public Health, in 2009, for the first time, Massachusetts high school students used tobacco products other than cigarettes at a higher rate than cigarettes.