New Mexico Kids to 'Kick Butts' on March 18

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Mar 13, 2015, 12:00 ET

State Leaders Urged to Support Tobacco Prevention Initiatives

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in New Mexico will stand up to Big Tobacco on March 18 and after as they join thousands of young people nationwide for the 20^th annual Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned nationwide for this day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to stay tobacco-free, demand that tobacco companies stop marketing deadly, addictive products to them and encourage elected officials to do more to reduce youth tobacco use.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how the tobacco industry still spends huge sums on marketing and is adopting new strategies to reach young customers. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $8.8 billion a year – one million dollars every hour – to market tobacco products. In New Mexico, tobacco companies spend $33.9 million annually on marketing efforts. The industry's tactics that entice kids include:

Splashy ads in magazines with large youth readership, such as Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine and Rolling Stone.
Widespread advertising and price discounts in stores, which make tobacco products appealing and affordable to kids.
New, sweet-flavored tobacco products such as small cigars and electronic cigarettes. The latest surveys show that youth use of e-cigarettes has skyrocketed.

In addition to organizing events, kids are standing up to the tobacco industry on social media through the #NotAReplacement selfie campaign. The tobacco industry's own documents reveal that they have long targeted kids as "replacement smokers" for the more than 480,000 people their products kill each year in the United States. Kids are taking selfies to say they're not a replacement and sharing the photos on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with the #NotAReplacement hashtag. (view the #NotAReplacement selfie gallery)

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up and reject Big Tobacco's manipulative marketing," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We can make the next generation tobacco-free and end the tobacco epidemic for good. Elected officials can help reach that goal by standing with kids and supporting proven strategies to prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws and prevention programs."

In New Mexico, tobacco use claims 2,600 lives and costs $844 million in health care bills each year. Currently, an unhealthy 14.4 percent of New Mexico's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids engage in creative events that range from small classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to large rallies at state capitols.

In New Mexico, activities include:

On March 18, the New Mexico State University Campus Health Center, in collaboration with the New Mexico Department of Health, will hold an event outside of the Corbett Center Student Union to promote awareness of the dangers of tobacco. Handouts, brochures, and educational displays will be available to students. Time: 10 AM. Location: Corbett Center Student Union: 1780 E. University Avenue, Las Cruces. Contact: Alex Maus (937) 729-6256.

On March 21, teens from Ruidoso High School will set up a booth at the Ruidoso Mountain Living Home and Garden Show in Ruidoso to inform attendants about the dangers of tobacco, especially hookah. Time: 10 AM. Location: Ruidoso Convention Center, 111 Sierra Blanca Drive, Ruidoso. Contact: Melissa Eisenberg (505) 250-7694.

For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in New Mexico, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

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SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids