Caribbean L 8 ife, Feb. 15–21, 2019 BQ
City teens advocate for
greater tobacco control
City high school students traveled to Albany last week to speak with lawmakers
about the dangers of tobacco use. NYC Smoke-free
By Alexandra Simon
Dozens of city students
traveled to Albany
last week to speak to
state lawmakers on the
harmful effects tobaccouse
has on their communities.
On Feb. 4, organizers
from anti-tobacco
group NYC Smoke Free
traveled with students
to the capital on Legislative
Education Day,
to show their support
for more comprehensive
tobacco control programs.
The young advocates
spoke honestly on
how cigarette-smoking
affects their lives, and
how certain substances
disproportionately
affect their neighborhoods,
said one of the
organizers.
“The students are
very educated on how
communities of color
and lower income communities
are harmed by
tobacco, and they spoke
about menthol because
it takes the cake,” said
Edric Robinson, a student
engagement manager
with the organization.
He said there waa an
excessively large use of
menthol cigarette use in
city areas that were predominantly
comprised
of people of color.
“We use menthol
more than any other
group, and our community
is struggling and
more needs to be done
to help because a lot of
students are also falling
victim to menthol cigarettes,”
said Robinson.
The students were
able to convey to lawmakers
how easy it is to
access cigarettes where
they live, and how the
abundance of corner
stores selling single cigarettes
make it easy for
teens to purchase.
He said that many also
got a chance to express
how smoking affected
their peers, families
and communities, and
detailed research they
have conducted.
“Some of the things
they touched on was
how some have families
and relatives suffering
from addiction,
and what they’re trying
to do to empower their
peers,” said Robinson.
As an organizer working
with the teens and
educating them, Robinson
said he was proud at
the passionate pleas of
his students.
“It ’s rewarding
because they were able
to not only regurgitate
what they’ve heard, but
they were also speaking
from their own experiences,”
said Robinson.
Another growing
problem is the popularity
of vaping through
the use of electronic
cigarettes, also known
as e-cigs. Robinson said
the latest phenomenon
was very common with
teenagers and was even
more harmful than
tobacco. He also said
that health agencies
such as the Center for
Disease Control, warn
against vaping because
it carries long-term
negative health effects.
“Unlike tobacco, electronic
cigarettes are
not regulated, and from
what we know nicotine
is already addicting and
these electronic cigarettes
contain more nicotine
than cigarettes,”
said Robinson. “When
people puff on them
throughout the day,
they are unaware of how
much they are ingesting.”
“For teens, nicotine
use can especially
impact their development
and brain development,
and other areas
we don’t know,” he said.
Robinson said the
next step was organizing
district meetings
and trips to the nation’s
capital to meet with
partners.