Bronx high school students trickled into a crowded New York City auditorium on October 24 as anti-smoking activists issued a stark warning: “Don’t be a replacement smoker.”
Advocates from NYC Smoke-Free at Public Health Solutions, a community health organization, through the summer launched the Reality Check campaign targeting what they say are tobacco companies’ misleading marketing strategies devised to trap high school students and turn them into life-long smokers.
“Look at the packaging for Tic Tac Spearmints and Orbs Fresh; a tobacco product” said the group’s Bronx coordinator, Vonetta Dudley. “Children don’t know what they’re picking because cigarettes are placed next to candies in some stores.”
“I just recognize the colors in Washington Avenue delis,” said Vicky Mejia, a high school student at Validius Preparatory Academy in Morrisania. “The boxes are white and green and the cigarettes are yellow and white.”
According to a 2013 survey by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 21,000 public high school students smoke cigarettes, 3,000 of whom are from the Bronx. Those numbers formed the basis of the Reality Check campaign, which differs from other youth smoking awareness campaigns, according to the director of NYC Smoke-Free, Patrick Kwan.
“Ours is a student driven campaign,” Kwan said. “We want to launch student chapters across New York City, so students themselves can be empowered and teach other students.”
This year, Public Health Solutions partnered with Mott Haven-based community development group SoBRO to raise teen smoking awareness through the Work, Learn & Grow program. Students ages 14-15 work up to two hours of community service per month as part of the program. Seventeen SoBRO kids participated in the October 24 campaign, serving as both the audience learning about the ill effects of tobacco smoke and actors promoting the cause.
Mariama Kabba, a former SoBRO student, participated in Public Health Solution’s summer Google-mapping project to locate the number of tobacco retailers in her neighborhood.
“I found 28 local tobacco stores but only three playgrounds and two schools,” she said.
“Even pharmacies like Duane Reade sell tobacco,” said Kwan, adding that more than 9,500 stores around the city sell tobacco products. “The Bronx is a tobacco swamp.”
According to the Center for Disease Control, tobacco companies spent over $9.6 billion on advertising and promotion in the US in 2012.
The Herald asked SoBRO students how they thought teens could afford to buy cigarettes, given the hefty price of a pack.
“I have seen kids buy cigarettes from a deli near Fordham Plaza,” said Cris Juan Crawford, a student from Theodore Roosevelt High School, adding that many young people simply dip into their allowance.
“I think someone older buys it for them,” said Emeka Anokwuru, a student at Cardinal Hayes High School.
Guillermo Flores of Public Health Solutions said that loosies are still commonly available for a dollar at local stores, and that packs of cigarettes can be bought for as little as $4 per pack in southern states and sold in New York at a profit.
Kwan said it is up to government to lead the way in making cigarettes less readily available.
“Tobacco prices should be raised to make them less affordable,” Kwan said. “They should be sold in separate stores not in delis next to candies.”
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