Month-long effort culminates on
World No Tobacco Day – May
31, 2013
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The students, who have set up No Tobacco Pledge Walls in
high traffic areas such as city and town halls, local super markets and other
businesses, work year-round to increase awareness about tobacco use in their
local communities, encourage others to reject the tobacco industry’s deceptive
messages and urge local leaders to protect kids from being recruited as a new
generation of smokers.
In La Paz County, the teens will conclude their May
initiative with a special surprise for local community members who come out to
their World No Tobacco Day event at 4:30 p.m. May 31 at Basha's Grocery Store in Parker.
The theme of this year’s World No Tobacco Day, a global
initiative led by the World Health Organization (WHO), is “Ban tobacco
advertising, promotion and sponsorship.”
“What better way to support this year’s focus on banning
tobacco promotion than for us to be out here promoting our own anti-tobacco
message,” said Tammy Minor, Teen Solutions Coordinator with the La Paz County
Health Department. “Plus, we will have a fun surprise for everyone. So come
out, make a pledge and join us,”
According to WHO, tobacco kills nearly six million people
worldwide each year, of which more than 600,000 are non-smokers dying from
breathing second-hand smoke. In the United States alone, more than 500,000
people die from tobacco use annually, which is more than 1,400 each day, and
50,000 die from the effects of second-hand smoke.
Arizona Tobacco Stats at a Glance:
· 17.4 percent
of Arizona high school students smoke
· 6,000 Arizona
kids under 18 become new daily smokers each year
· 227,000
Arizona kids are exposed to second-hand smoke at home
· 10.4 percent
of male high school students use smokeless or spit tobacco
· 19.2 percent
of adults smoke
(Sources: U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Campaign for
Tobacco-Free Kids)
