I do not blame the users of tobacco, but I blame the industry. I want to yell out to my community, “Watch out. They are coming after your kids.”
Children have dreams of becoming professional athletes, models, teachers and doctors. However, tobacco industries have dreams of children becoming adults who smoke a pack of cigarettes a day.
The sad reality is that more then 3,000 kids become addicted every day to tobacco. It has been proven that tobacco will shorten your lifespan. Those kids who become addicted will never have the chance to see their dreams come true.
Tobacco industries ultimate goal is to make money. Is your child worth more then a dollar amount? If your answer is yes, then we must join together as a community to help our children say no to tobacco. We have to teach kids at an early age what tobacco can do to their bodies and praise them for abstaining from it.
I am encouraging my community to take a stand against these tobacco industries. One person does not have the ability to make much noise by himself/herself, but together we can let out a mighty roar.
If we can eliminate tobacco use from one generation, then we can eliminate tobacco use forever.
Shaundrea Snell
Jacksonville
