STAND against Tobacco

This was the first event I've ever done with STAND so I wasn't exactly sure of what was going to happen. I was hoping it wasn't going to be a preachfest on anti-tobacco because let's face it nobody likes to be preached to. Luckily when I got there the people who run it told me the reason's for putting the seminar together and I was all for it. The reason they brought me was because STAND is Ohio's anti-tobacco campaign and since I'm from Parma, OH it hit close to home.

Okay I'm going to try to explain this the best I can....Big Tobacco companies have to give money to STAND each year because of a lawsuit. The big tobacco companies give the money to the state legislature and then the state legislature is supposed to give it to STAND. The problem STAND is having is the State Legislature isn't doing that. They're using the money for other stuff basically saying that there's something more important then the 52 Ohioians dying everyday from Tobacco-related illnesses.

STAND needs the money to help build this campaign and make it bigger because we all know advertising is effective but it costs money. The more people know the more lives saved. Here's some info. to think about...18,900 Ohioians die every year from tobacco-related illnesses. Big Tobacco spends more than 1.8 million each day in just Ohio to get us addicted. Annual Healthcare costs in Ohio alone associated, with tobacco-related illnesses total more than 3.4 billion--that's more than 9 million a day!

With all of that you'd think the state legislature would be a little more willing to give STAND the money that is rightfully their's but they don't. That's one of the main reason's STAND has it's seminar's to inform kids all over Ohio to write to their legislature tell them we care about our health as well as others and need to get the word out there. I mean how would you feel if a middle man was taking millions of dollars away from you. I'd be pretty pissed.

The seminar was a lot of fun and I learned a lot about the effects of tobacco and how shady the Big Tobacco companies are in getting kids addicted. It's really sad. The seminar showed kids how to spread the word on STAND and how to make their issues count.

Some people might be asking what has STAND done that's so great. Check it out: Ohio youth smoking rates gone down 45% since 1999--that's 100,000 kids not smoking anymore. In the last year, there are nearly 375,000 fewer Ohio smokers. If STAND goes away who's going to stop tobacco companies from pushing their deadly products on us.

I really had a great time and if you have a chance to support an anti-tobacco campaign in your area i'd recommend it. These campaigns aren't your picket line type thing it's more about having fun and getting the word out there. Good Luck STAND and thank you.