More than 400,000 people in the United States will die this year from a tobacco-related disease. On Wednesday — Kick Butts Day — many kids from our area are taking a stand to stop youth from getting hooked on deadly tobacco products. We know that 90 percent of smokers start using tobacco regularly by the time they are 18. Isn’t this astonishing?

There are many effective ways state and local officials can protect young people from tobacco. They can use funds from the state’s 1998 legal settlement with the tobacco companies to pay for tobacco prevention programs; they can increase tobacco taxes; and they can pass smoke-free laws to protect us from secondhand smoke. Consider these facts: each day, more than 1,000 kids become new regular smokers; roughly one-third of them will die prematurely from a tobacco-related disease.

Today’s youth are not just part of the problem, they’re part of the solution. And the students from the Saks High SADD Club want tobacco companies to know that on Kick Butts Day and every day throughout the year, we’re going to fight them every step of the way.

Rayshanna Butler and the Saks High School SADD Club
(Students Against Destructive Decisions)
Anniston