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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

Zoeller partners with anti-smoking campaign to end youth smoking

Start something unstoppable.

Those are some of the first words visible, in bold black print, when scrolling down the website for “truth,” a youth smoking prevention campaign.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller joined with public health foundation Legacy and youth groups across Indiana to launch the “truth” campaign to put an end to teenage smoking.

“Cigarettes are the only product that, if you use them correctly, they kill you,” Zoeller said.

The issue of youth smoking was addressed in 1998 when the attorneys general from 46 U.S. states, five U.S. territories, the District of Columbia and five tobacco companies in the states reached an agreement known as the Master Settlement Agreement, Zoeller said.

The MSA is an agreement that was reached concerning the advertising, marketing and promotion of tobacco products. The MSA “set standards for and imposed restrictions on the sale and marketing of cigarettes by participating cigarette manufacturers,” according to the Public Health Law Center at William Mitchell College of Law.

The “Finish It” campaign, spearheaded by “truth” and Legacy, “asks young people to be the generation that finally ends the tobacco epidemic,” according to a press release from the office of the Attorney General.

“Finish It” has used social media as a main platform for spreading its messages, encouraging teens to use the hashtag #FinishIt on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

The campaign’s social media has collectively garnered more than two million followers and is the nation’s biggest youth smoking prevention campaign, according to the release.

Teen smoking rates have plummeted, reaching their lowest point in 22 years, according to the release.

According to the Tobacco Prevention Cessation Commission at the Indiana State Department of Health, 13.7 percent of high school students in Indiana were current smokers in 2012, a 57-percent decline from 2000.

For middle school students, 3.7 percent were listed as smokers in the study, which was down 62 percent since 2000, according to the release.

“We’re now down to 9 percent of youths who smoke,” Zoeller said, noting that people seem to start smoking because of peer pressure and the temptation of cigarettes.

Zoeller has three children, so this idea worries him, he said. His kids don’t smoke, but people around them do.

“Now, we’re calling on the 91 percent,” he said, alluding to friends and family members who could potentially influence these teens.

Zoeller also warned that although e-cigarettes are advertised as being better for peoples’ health compared to regular cigarettes, “that’s not a very high bar” to top.

Teens are able to interact with and help each other through the quitting process through #FinishIt as advertised on “truth’s” website. They can also create profiles on the site and track their personal progress.

“This campaign and the collective voice of Indiana’s young people is necessary to combat the $271 million spent in Indiana to market tobacco products,” Dr. William VanNess, Indiana state health commissioner, said in the release. “These young people have the power to make the next generation tobacco-free. I encourage youth throughout Indiana to get involved in their communities to end tobacco use.”

Zoeller’s involvement in this project is timely because of his recent appointment to the Legacy’s Board of Directors. He is also a co-chair of the Tobacco Committee for the National Association of Attorneys General.

“You’re not buying a pack of cigarettes or an e-cigarette,” Zoeller said. “You’re buying a lifetime addiction to nicotine.”

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