Raising taxes on tobacco products will protect kids and save lives
Editor
May 23, 2012
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has signed a life-saving increase in the state's tax on little cigars and smokeless tobacco, products that the tobacco industry is marketing heavily in a bid to entice youth to use tobacco.
Lower tax rates on cigars and smokeless tobacco compared to cigarettes have helped fuel an increase in teen use of these products. While cigarette smoking among Maryland high school students has decreased nearly 40 percent since 2000, cigar use has increased by more than 11 percent during the same period.
Continue reading Maryland Leads with First Tobacco Tax Hike of 2012
posted May 23, 2012
Elected officials must get it, too
Editor
Apr 24, 2012
Kids say the darndest things — and some of the smartest, too.
When Linda Kelsch’s third grade students at Linton Elementary School in Linton, North Dakota, were asked to express their opinions about a community issue, they chose to write about a proposal before the City Council to require smoke-free public places and work places.
Continue reading The Kids Get It: Secondhand Smoke Kills
posted April 24, 2012
Tobacco industry spends over a million dollars an hour on marketing that hooks kids
Editor
Mar 8, 2012
Smoking among American youth is a “pediatric epidemic” that isn’t occurring by accident: It’s directly caused by tobacco industry marketing and promotion that entices teenagers to start smoking and encourages their progression to becoming regular smokers.
Continue reading Surgeon General’s Report Shows Youth Smoking is “Not an Accident”
posted March 08, 2012
Sweet flavors and low prices entice kids to smoke “little cigars”
Editor
Dec 13, 2011
The tobacco industry has maneuvered around marketing restrictions aimed at protecting youth and found yet another way to hook kids when they're young: Flavored "little cigars" that are so cheap kids can easily afford them, and so sweet with kid-friendly flavors that some young smokers believe they're less addictive than cigarettes.
Continue reading Cheap and Sweet Like Candy – Kills Like Tobacco
posted December 13, 2011