THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY IS BUYING OUR KIDS’ EDUCATION -- WHAT YOU CAN DO TO STOP THEM!

What’s Happening:   The tobacco industry is trying to buy credibility and goodwill by giving  money to educational and other youth-serving groups.  Recent examples are:

• $4.5 million given in June by Philip Morris and Brown & Williamson to the West Virginia Department of Education to implement the Life Skills training curriculum in state middle schools over the next three years.  This deal was brokered by the owner of a local tobacco warehouse and it took only 3 days from the time Philip Morris “invited” the grant application until they sent the first check!  Philip Morris then set its sights on the Denver Public schools, but fast action by tobacco activists stopped the school system from accepting the funds.
• $4.3 million given by Philip Morris to the National 4-H Council for a youth smoking prevention program to be implemented through the state 4-H groups.  So far, 27 state 4-H groups have refused to participate in this program (AK, CA, DE, FL, IL, IN, IA, KS, MD, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NJ, NY, ND, NE, OH, PA, SD, TX, VA, VT, WV, WI, WY).
• $1 million given by Philip Morris to the Center for the Study of Youth Policy, School of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania to create a program to conduct research and education about underage smoking prevention.

Why This is Bad:

• There is a basic conflict of interest between organizations committed to the education and development of young people, and tobacco companies committed to selling ever-increasing numbers of cigarettes, which they can do only by addicting more and more young smokers!
• These companies know that about around 90% of all smokers begin smoking before age 18.  The future of their industry depends on attracting a steady stream of young people into a lifelong addiction.  It is no accident that 60% of 8^th, 10^th and 12^th grade underage smokers prefer Marlboro, Philip Morris’ leading brand.
• These grants send a dangerously mixed message to young people: it is wrong to smoke cigarettes, but it is okay to take money from -- and become partners with -- the very industry that is trying to addict them.

What You Can Do:

• Don’t allow your state’s education system to become a pawn of the tobacco industry.  Call or write your state department of education and urge them to resist any attempts by the tobacco industry to buy credibility by giving them money. 
• Contact the 4-H program in your state and urge them NOT to participate in the Philip Morris-funded program being implemented by the National 4-H Council.  If your state is one of the 27 that have already refused, congratulate the 4-H staff for setting the right example for the young people they work with.  Find your state’s program at www.fourhcouncil.edu/4hsites.htm.

Become part of a network of tobacco control activists working at the local, state and national levels.  Join our National Action Network.