Anti-smoking Links & Resources
At The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids site, you will get an understanding of the most important issues, vaping and the present struggle between our government and the tobacco industry. There are reports providing a clear perspective on a range of topics, such as one report on your State’s current use of the $240 billion settlement with Big Tobacco, a report on the global treaty on tobacco control, and plenty more. At this site, you can also write your member of Congress, and our favorite part is, legislators will hear the voices of children equally with those of adults.
Researching a specific issue, news article or school paper?
It’s easy to search the tobacco news database!
At Tobacco.org, you can easily research any tobacco question or issue. Their database of news articles mentioning tobacco, vaping or smoking goes back for years. Every day the site updates with the latest news articles concerning tobacco, taken primariy from four US newspapers: USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the New York Times — but many other publications are scanned daily as well. Tobacco.org’s database of news articles goes back several years, and now contains over 100,000 news articles about tobacco issues. It’s an invaluable resource for journalists researching tobacco stories, and for members of the public who wish to follow any tobacco control topic — government policy, cessation, youth smoking, vaping, prevention education and more.
To research a subject that interests you, go to Tobacco.org’s home page. Then type in keywords in the search box appropriate to your search. Every news article containing those keywords will come up in the results, with the latest ones at the top of the results. As of November, 2019, they are working on an upgrade to the site.
It’s a simple, useful and powerful research tool. The tobacco Daily News is presently produced by Gene Borio, Tac Taceloski and their team, and was financed through a grant from Washington DC’s American Legacy Foundation, the national Foundation created with funds from the settlement of the States’ lawsuits against the tobacco industry. Search at www.Tobacco.org and you are likely to find the answer to your specific question.
You can also get a free subscription to the Daily Tobacco News, or your area of interest in tobacco. Go to Tobacco.org and click on Subscribe. Next, choose whether you want Daily News, Weekly News, or Breaking News. This means you can have the day’s news about tobacco emailed to you daily, once a week, or several times a day, should you choose Breaking News. Next, choose the topics you want. You can also select by State, any of over 200 countries, and by your topic/s of interest. To avoid being deluged, we recommend subscribing only to the Top Stories (4 – 10 stories emailed per day).
You may also return to this site and click on Today’s Tobacco Headlines on our Home page. Under that headline we link to Tobacco.org’s daily top stories and its international news as well. There are 224 nations for which Tobacco.org offers news stories — breaking, daily, or weekly.
THE TRUTH ABOUT TOBACCO
Our bestselling educational video for grades 6 – 12
Tobaccofree Earth’s acclaimed educational video for students age 11 – 18, The Truth About Tobacco, aims to prevent students from starting to smoke or vape, and to persuade and empower teens to stay vape and tobacco-free. It also motivates youth to make more responsible choices about drugs and alcohol, and not least, chewing tobacco.
One health teacher especially liked “the excellent real-life examples of how to say no to friends who smoke, drink or use drugs.” Preview these clips from the video.
The Truth About Tobacco includes highlights from a talk Patrick Reynolds gave to 1,000 14 year olds. At one point he counsels them, “Life brings all of us difficult moments and obstacles — and when these moments come, don’t escape by using tobacco, drugs, alcohol, food or even music. Instead, stay with your uncomfortable feelings, but don’t isolate and do it alone. Talk about it to your parents, a trusted teacher, or the school counselor. It’s by talking about our difficulties to another person that we resolve them. Life gets tough at times, but you can do it.“
The Truth About Tobacco uses satirical images to make fun of tobacco ads, and then opens students’ eyes to how tobacco advertising manipulates many teens.
It warns about the power of nicotine addiction, and is critical of movie stars who make smoking look cool on screen.
Health teachers and School District officials have high praise for the new video.
“Motivating, educational and informative, with powerful images! A must for all teens!”
“Completely captivated our 6th, 7th and 8th graders.”
“The kids were spellbound.”
Another teacher said, “The Truth About Tobacco is a powerful
mix of great TV spots, live talk, photos, film clips and excellent graphics. This video was so effective, we’re buying one for every school in our district. It will be an important part of our new tobacco education campaign. It should be in every middle and high school library.”
A top resource in tobacco control today
The American Lung Association’s National & State-by-State
VAPING RESOURCES
If you're young and vaping, or thinking of trying it
Tobaccofree Earth invites you to visit Flavors Hook Kids.org. It’s a fantastic site. If you’re researching a paper about vaping, visit the Campaign for Tobaccofree Kids, click on the magnifying glass and search the word ‘vaping’.
Quick facts from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control)
See the CDC’s Risks of E-cigarettes for kids, teens, and young adults. Get the truth about vaping.
Would you consider filing a lawsuit?
If you or someone you know has been adversely affected by vaping, you may wish to file a lawsuit. The Center for Public Health Litigation, in addition to taking on cigarette companies in court (resulting in judgments exceeding $100 million), also files individual and class action litigation against vaping companies, going after Juul Labs and Puff Bar, two leading e-cigarette companies. The Center is the litigation initiative of the Public Health Advocacy Institute, a non-profit based at Northeastern University in Boston that has set its sights on stopping Big Tobacco for over forty years. (The link above goes to https://www.phaionline.org/center-for-public-health-litigation/key-issues/e-cig-claims/
The Tobacco Trial Lawyers’ Association is a membership organization of trial attorneys and tobacco litigation specialists who wish to share resources and learn from members’ litigation experiences with tobacco industry defendants. Learn more at www.ttlaonline.com.
But shouldn’t smokers be accountable for their smoking?
Many ask, shouldn’t smokers be accountable for the disease they brought on themselves? Tobaccofree Earth’s response: Of course they should, but does that mean we should let the tobacco industry go unaccountable for its part in the problem? We advocate for shared accountability.
In the early days of tobacco litigation, one court held the smoker 60% responsible, and the tobacco company 40% liable. Later, when solid evidence was later introduced that the tobacco industry knew all along that its products were addictive and caused death, and were targeting youth in their ads, the balance of liability shifted more toward Big Tobacco.
We’ve seen multi-million dollar awards to single smokers, and a landmark $240 billion settlement with 46 States who sued to recover their Medicare and Medicaid costs from tobacco-caused illnesses.
THE GILDED LEAF
Triumph, Tragedy, and Tobacco
Three Generations of the R. J. Reynolds Family and Fortune
The Gilded Leaf is the riveting, dramatic saga of the R. J. Reynolds tobacco family, one of America’s richest and most intensely private clans. R.J. was the original founder of the company that became part of RJR Nabisco, which in 1988 was involved in the largest business takeover in history. Spanning three generations, the Reynolds’s story moves from the triumphs of founder and corporate genius R. J. to the dissipation, scandal, and tragedy that plagued his children and grandchildren. There is a redemptive close, with grandson Patrick Reynolds founding Tobaccofree Earth and becoming a leading anti-smoking advocate.
The Gilded Leaf presents, for the first time, a complete account of the family who captured, spent and redeemed the American dream.
JUST THE FAQS
Tobaccofree Earth’s FAQs page page offers answers to the most commonly asked questions, including —
Got smoke from a neighbor’s apartment?
Which States have the most (and least) funding for tobacco prevention and cessation?
How to get free posters and promotional items for your school or health fair
Volunteering your time or making a donation
Your idea for an anti-smoking TV spot
Advice for those who want to speak at schools
How to research your specific tobacco Q’s for school papers and for journalists, too
Subscribe to the Daily Tobacco News for the latest in the News
Our educational video and live talks
The best ways to quit smoking
Q’s from students in grades 6-12
Joe Chemo gets laughs! Download this photo and more.
You’ll find large files of this image of Joe and other cool art by going to the bottom of our Photos page, a resource for our live talk clients. Scroll almost all the way down the long page. The Vancouver-based magazine ADBUSTERS created several hilarious and insightful ads satirizing tobacco advertising and plenty more. Visit the Adbusters site to see more of their truly ingenious and cutting spoof ads, and to explore the anti-consumerist philosophy which created them.
To order a full size Joe Chemo poster or postcards of their ads, call them directly at (800) 663-1243. Prices are reasonable — and do ask about an ADBUSTERS magazine subscription. To hear Joe’s last words, click here.
In BADvertising Country, artist Bonnie Vierthaler counters the seduction of tobacco ads by doctoring them up to make them honest. By juxtaposing silly, gross and disgusting images on top of tobacco ads, she jolts people into realizing how tobacco ad imagery is concealing the truth, and manipulating young people into tobacco addiction.
Best of all, at this site you can learn How to BADvertise yourself, using scissors and glue or computer and mouse.
Click here for a high-resolution file of the Crush Proof Box.
Artist Bonnie Vierthaler’s email is bv@badvertising.org.
Smoking in Movies and TV
This site quickly becomes an invaluable resource for parents to search for appropriate films, TV series, video games and other media for their kids. Parents can search by their child’s age, name of the app or video game, film titles, TV shows and more. Each is rated for smoking, violence, sex, and profanity. You can search “best movies for age 11,” for example, and immediately get that info. With a budget of $75 million annually, the site also offers an array of articles for parents. CommonSenseMedia.org is a truly fantastic website and organization. It was founded by Jim Steyer, son of the pro-environment billionaire and wind farm magnate, Tom Steyer. Tobaccofree Earth highly recommends this website to all parents.
This excellent group is devoted to the problem of smoking in movies. They have done some very credible, major studies which prove that smoking in films really does help influence young people to begin smoking.
The group was launched in March, 2001, and it has successfully created widespread awareness within the Hollywood community that smoking by stars does have a negative effect on young moviegoers. It was funded by a $12 million initial grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, at the suggestion of anti-smoking activist Stan Glantz of UCSF. The group’s web url is http://www.smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu/
If you just want to find out how much smoking there is in a particular film, whether current releases or past, go to www.screenit.com. They also rate films for violence, language, and more. The well-known movie critic Roger Ebert named ScreenIt as one of the Top Five Most Useful Movie Sites on the Internet. You can actually go to a review of any film at the site and check out the smoking rating for that movie.
In the 1990’s, there was a big upsurge in the amount of smoking in movies and TV. Characters in 90’s movies were much more likely to smoke than a person in real life. In this way, movies misled many teens into thinking that smoking was more popular than it really was. Even worse, many stars made smoking look cool to young people, including children in the audience.
At Tobaccofree.org we do not advocate censorship of the movies. Let’s instead deliver a dose of healthy shame to the stars who smoke in films, and make it look cool to our kids. Which stars have been smoking most in films? John Travolta smoked in nearly every film he made in the 1990’s. Julia Roberts smoked in several of hers. So did Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Gwenneth Paltrow, and many others.
Young people look up to stars and copy them. It’s difficult to measure the negative effect these actors have had on younger children. Stars have a responsibility to not lead our kids in a bad direction. Shame on you folks!
We uncovered this photo of an old ad for Lark cigarettes with Pierce Brosnan, who is now an anti-smoking role model. This Lark ad was seen in Japan. But Brosnan saw the error of his ways, and has since shown tremendous leadership in the Hollywood community, when he vowed he would smoke no more as James Bond. His dramatic turnabout set a good example for other stars, and for youth who see him as James Bond.
Charlie Sheen’s ad for Parliament ran in Japan. Mr. Sheen set a bad example for Japanese youth who look up to him.
Just a few years ago, some producers would take large payments from the tobacco companies to place cigarette brands in films. The producers of the James Bond film License to Kill took a $350,000 payment to have James Bond smoke Larks in the movie — and James Bond is a role model for young boys.
In Superman II, woman reporter Lois Lane, who is a nonsmoker in the comics, chain-smoked Marlboros, and the Marlboro brand name appeared some 40 times in the film. Tobacco giant Phillip Morris paid a mere $40,000 to the producers for this cunning promotion. Of course, Lois Lane is a role model for young girls.
Sylvester Stallone took a $500,000 payment from one tobacco company to smoke their brand in three of his films. Phillip Morris even placed its products in, astoundingly, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and The Muppet Movie.
Hollywood swears that it has stopped placing cigarette brands in films — but we know of one instance in which a tobacco company helped finance a film, and then put its products prominently in it. U.S. Tobacco, which makes most of the chewing tobacco, had a movie production division which made a movie, Pure Country, in which handsome, good-old-boy cowboys chew. Fortunately, it bombed, to the relief of anti-smoking advocates.
There have been more recent reports of cigar companies paying to promote cigars in films. Movie stars have done a great deal to help popularize cigars, such as Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum in Independence Day. Arnold Schwartzenegger, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Pierce Brosnan, all appeared on the cover of Cigar Aficionado magazine. These stars’ use of cigars makes a powerful statement which is not lost on teens as they browse through the nation’s magazine racks. Cigars cause mouth and throat cancer, as well as poisoning the air with extraong second hand smoke.
Also see our page, Anti-smoking issues in TV and films.
INTERNATIONAL TOBACCO CONTROL
In 2007, Michael R. Bloomberg, philanthropist and then mayor of New York City, launched a $125 million initiative to combat tobacco use in low and middle-income countries, where more than two-thirds of the world’s smokers live. In 2019 he gave another $160 million to combat vaping.
Using the funds provided in part by Bloomberg, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in Washington DC has established an International Resource Center. It supports governments and non-governmental organizations around the world in promoting, adopting, and implementing new government policies to regulate smoking and the tobacco industry.
The Grants section of the group’s web site includes information about how to apply for a grant.
International Resource Center
1400 I Street, NW Suite 1200
Washington, DC 20005
+1 (202)296-5469
Also as part of this initiative, the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease has joined the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids to also provide grants to governments and non-governmental organizations in low and middle-income countries to accelerate progress in tobacco control.
Tobacco.org offers a great one-time search or free email subscription to its Tobacco News from 224 nations. You may search or subscribe to the news from only the nation/s you choose. For more on Tobacco.org, see the second listing from the top, on this page. Scroll up.
The Tobacco-Control Network is operated by the powerful European group, International Union Against Cancer. Its Globalink website relays information and discussions on international tobacco-control developments, including news articles, analyses, updates on U.S. developments, and reports from tobacco control advocates around the world. More information is available from https://www.globalink.org/. There is also a selection of news bulletins and resources is available at the site. Access is free of charge, but it may be necessary to set up a user and password.
Another good resource is Robert Weissman’s mailing list; we are not sure if it is continuing. To subscribe, try sending an e-mail message to listproc@essential.org with the following all in one line: subscribe intl-tobacco <your name> Put this line in both the subject and in the text of your e-mail message.
You may also e-mail, write or telephone to receive it: ASH (Action on Smoking and Health), 6 Fitzhardinge Street, London W1H 9PL UK Tel: 0171-224 0743 Fax: 0171-224 0471 (Ask your long-distance carrier’s operator for the new London area codes. The country code is still 44.)
This Google Search for international tobacco control brings up a list of relevant resources and information.
Courtesy of The American Cancer Society
CHEWING TOBACCO
In our educational video The Truth About Tobacco and in our Message to Youth, we offer an eye-opening story about chewing tobacco. We let it be known that the tobacco industry pays convenience stores and supermarkets up to $100 per month per display, sometimes more, to place displays of tobacco behind countertops — whether or not these products were actually selling. Today the vaping industry does the same.
Sean Marsee’s Tragic Story
Sean Marsee at age 17
Sean at age 19, shortly before his death.
For large files of these two images, see tobaccofree.org/truth/
In both our educational video and on our Message to Youth page, we tell the moving story of Sean Marsee, a high school athlete who had won 28 medals in track competitions. He chewed tobacco and, with his athletic prowess and excellent health, never thought he would get cancer. But he did. He then endured three operations. The first removed his tongue, and by the final surgery, he’d lost parts of his jaw, nose and many of his neck muscles. Sean died at age 19, sad and disfigured, and in unthinkable pain. For the video clip from The Truth About Tobacco in which Patrick Reynolds tells Sean’s story, see the 6th clip down the page at tobaccofree.org/clips/.
The photos above and his story are Sean’s legacy and his gift to those who are experimenting with, or already addicted to, chewing tobacco. A USA Today column wrote of our video’s presentation of Sean’s story, “This was probably the most effective argument I found online.” You can read it on our Message to Youth page or see the YouTube clip of it from our video.
THE BRIAN CURTIS STORY
Bryan Curtis, age 33, of St Petersburg,Florida, holds his son Bryan Jr., 2, in this March 29, 1999 photo. The photo below was taken just two months later. Photo: Curtis Family
June 3, 1999 — the day of Bryan’s death. Bryan’s wife Bobbie and son Bryan
are at his side. Brian holds the top photo in his hands.
[St Petersburg Times photo: V. Jane Windsor]
For the full story, visit the Brian Curtis page at WhyQuit.com.
Recommended Free Quit Smoking Resources
Here at our site, check out our insightful Quitting Tips and also our Quitlinks page. Unlike many programs, we also prepare quitters for the period to follow, one to twelve months after quitting — when the urge to smoke has largely died down. This is the time when most smokers light up again and get re-addicted. We think it’s vital to read up about this on our Quitting Tips page; scroll down to the headline in large type, Phase 2. This information will truly help empower you to stay tobaccofree for good this time.
Also at our Quitting Tips page, you’ll learn the classic, Boilerplate Points found in the best quit smoking programs, and you’ll read about and see links to several of the best, proven smoking cessation programs.
You may think you don’t need a program, but a recent CDC study shows that 95% of quitters who stop smoking without using any program are smoking again within one year.
Another recent study comparing the patch and notes that after one year, users of the nicotine patch have a 15% success rate, and users of the anti-depressant (by prescription) have double the success rate — 30%. In a separate study, one doctor used both the patch and simultaneously, and claimed a better than 35% success rate.
Even with , users still have a 70% failure rate — so this is not simply a matter of taking a magic pill or wearing a patch. There are several very important boilerplate points for quitters to know about.
Here’s a thought about using a program: the fact is, people who succeed best at life tend to get help. For example, a successful businessperson gets lots of help — a lawyer to write the contracts, an ad agency to handle the advertising, an accountant to do the accounting, and so on. So people who succeed in reaching their goals get help, and plenty of it. Yes, real men do ask directions! And good students ask questions, too.
So check out our Quitting Tips and learn a little more about the basics of quitting. We also point you to several excellent programs out there, with no benefit to our group. Our Quitting Tips will be an invaluable tool, empowering you and helping you learn a bit more, so you will stop successfully this time.
Free Live Phone Support
Whether you are ready to quit or just thinking about it, call 1-800-QUIT NOW for free support with a trained counselor.
When you call, a friendly staff person will offer a choice of free services, including mailed self-help literature, a referral list of other programs in your community, and one-one-counseling over the phone.
Another quit line is the the National Cancer Institute’s Smoking Quitline, 1-877-44U-Quit, which also offers proactive counseling by trained personnel.
Design your Own Quit Plan at BecomeAnEX.org
One of the most effective and best researched programs we’ve found is www.BecomeAnEx.org, a free resource for tobacco users who want to quit. Here smokers can continue to smoke while they create free, personalized quit plans which track the triggers that lead them to light up, such as alcohol, parties, or a difficult boss. And when they do quit, and those cravings start to mount, a live virtual support group will be there to help. This extraordinary, brilliant program was developed using the latest research by the American Legacy Foundation, the group created with $2 billion of the $240 billion settlement of the lawsuits by the States against Big Tobacco. Add the Become An Ex program to your arsenal in your battle against tobacco.
12 Reasons to Quit
This December, 2008 US News and World Report article begins, “Never mind cancer or heart disease for a moment. Here are some non-obvious reasons to snub cigarettes.”
Boilerplate Points for Quitting
It’s not enough simply to use a product. Counseling, and as well as utilizing the classic, boilerplate points for quitting, are critical to succeeding. Our Quitting Tips page includes a useful guide to these critically important boilerplate points. These will empower you with valuable techniques, and will also strengthen your motivation and resolve.
Cool Youth Sites
thetruth.com exposes the truth about tobacco, so you can have all of the information necessary to make up your mind for yourself. This site gets up to 200,000 visitors per month. Sponsored by the $1.45 billion Washington DC American Legacy Foundation, formed in 1998 as part of the settlement of the States’ lawsuits against Big Tobacco. Cool site!
http://www.getoutraged.com
If you are angry about tobacco use, here is great way to make your feelings heard. This site has way cool graphics and design, and at the What Can I Do link, you can make a difference in a few seconds.
http://www.quit4life.com
Follow the stories of four young people as they try to kick their habit in “Quit 4 Life,” a unique interactive site that offers important advice for those trying to quit smoking. This is a very cool site, in the extreme.
The opening animated page says it all — YOU are a target. But your mind is a weapon. “Question It” provides tips to help smokers win their personal battle against tobacco. Their Kickin’ Tips are truly excellent.
WhyQuit.com
Brace yourself, and then check out this incredibly moving photo of a 34 year old man dying from smoking-caused lung cancer, posted at this excellent site. In this powerful photo, published in the St Petersburg (Florida) Times, Brian Lee Curtis is gravely ill. His wife cries during her bedside vigil, as she holds their young son in her arms. WhyQuit.com is a great site, full of reasons to avoid starting to smoke.
More FAQs
What can I do if someone I love smokes?
The best way to ask loved ones to quit will be found on this site’s Message to Youth page, a little more than half way down the page, under the title in red, What Can I Do If My Parents Smoke? We strongly suggest that you not nag loved ones every day, or even every month, to stop. Ask them gently and briefly, no more than three or four times a year.
However, you may speak up as often as you like about second hand smoke.
Nagging a loved one about their addiction will probably make them angry, and further entrench them in their habit, as a way of expressing their anger (if a foolish way!) Remember, when you’re angry, speak up about it, instead of hurting yourself out of your anger.
Second hand smoke poisons you, and that is your business. In conclusion, there’s an important difference between nagging someone about their smoking habit, and speaking up about air that harms you. Ask smokers in your home to take it outdoors, no matter what!
What can parents do to motivate their kids not to start?
In our Message to Youth, a little more than halfway down the page, look for a section titled, What Parents Can Do. It offers great advice to parents on how to more effectively motivate children and teens to stay smokefree.
How do I ask a parent or friend not to smoke?
You’ll find a very specific answer to this on our Message to Youth page. It’s very near the top of the page; look for a title in red that says, If Cigarette Ads Told the Truth About Smoking. Right under the Utter FOOL poster is the answer.
This info is useful for more than saying no to tobacco. You can use this formula for just about anything you wish to say no to. Check it out!
The Center for Disease Control’s Tobacco Information and Source Page is put out by the Office on Smoking and Health.DOC (Doctors Ought to Care)
is a national organization of doctors with 139 chapters nationwide. Their archive of tobacco related articles, old cigarette ads from every decade, and more is a phenomenon. One of their methods to to attack the tobacco industry using humor — and some of their ads satirizing tobacco use are hilarious. Their Internet address is http://www.bcm.tmc.edu/doc.
Formerly we were the Foundation for a Tobaccofree Earth, but in 2020 we changed our name to Tobaccofree Earth . The group was founded in 1989 by Patrick Reynolds, the tobacco-free advocate and grandson of RJ Reynolds. His bio is at Tobaccofree.org/bio/. The group’s mission is to educate people of all ages about smoking and tobacco use and to help nicotine users quit successfully.
At present, the organization is seeking grants and major gifts to develop and implement its internationalprograms. Founder Patrick Reynolds’ motivational talk, Message to Youth, has had impact on many thousands of middle school students and teens in high school.
For detailed info, please see tobaccofree.org/about.
Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights
is actively lobbying for clean indoor air for everyone. They’re an eminently worthy group, and played a significant role in the battle to pass clean indoor air laws around the nation, educate children and youth about smoking and spit tobacco, and much more. Support their group with whatever membership level you can afford, and receive their excellent newsletter. Their web address is http://www.no-smoke.org.
Policy, of course, is what lawmakers create as they draft proposed laws in our Congress, State Legislatures, and local City Councils. The Substance Abuse Policy Research Program funds substance abuse policy research that will further laws to reduce the harm caused by the use of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs in the United States.
ASH
or Action on Smoking and Health, is devoted to protecting the health of nonsmokers as well as their rights, and to taking legal action against smoking in the workplace and much more. They can be found on the net at http://ash.org/
Ending The Tobacco Holocaust
This acclaimed book was published in 2007 and was written to be understood by the layman. It offers clarity and insight into today’s tobacco wars. Its hopeful conclusion offers several approaches to resolving the problem.
For Kindergarten through 2nd grade
The Tale of Samantha Skunk
This excellent do-it-yourself program captivates young children. “The tale of Samantha Skunk: Why Smoking Stinks” is a program that brings peer student leaders to classrooms as lovable magenta skunks. They connect with the children by reading to them from a jumbo-sized book, dressed as Samantha Skunk.
This unique program is one of the first to bring preschool and primary school children an anti-smoking message they can easily remember. Samantha’s creator Bill Scott will provide the purple skunk costume, and an oversized book and tape to train the young presenters. The costume and materials can be rented for two weeks for $200, or purchased outright for $1000.
More Cool Youth Sites
Tobaccofree Earth is seeking a grant to turn this site into a youth portal sending a strong tobacco and vaping prevention message.
Tips for Teens and 
Two anti-smoking pages sponsored by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, present important facts, fun activities, a message from the Surgeon General and an interview with Boyz II Men on their campaign to put an end to teen smoking. The urls are http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/osh/tipskids.htm and http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/osh/tipsteen.htm.
Here’s a great online source for tobacco intervention and cessation programs for teens. Their tobacco intervention and cessation curricula meets CDC guidelines, is research based, and is award winning.
Here’s a great online source for tobacco intervention and cessation programs for teens. Their tobacco intervention and cessation curricula meets CDC guidelines, is research based, and is award winning.
CIGARETTES, CIGARETTES
The Dirty Rotten Truth About Tobacco
THIS LANDMARK BOOK for the very young communicates, in a colorful and compelling way, the dangers of cigarette smoking and tobacco addiction. It bares the truth about things children will never see in cigarette and tobacco ads, and sheds light on the people who make it all possible — the tobacco companies and the government. (From Foreword by Patrick Reynolds)
The Tobacco Directory
The Tobacco Directory offers a comprehensive index
of tobacco related news, books and web resources.
Get the Gear…
Posters, t-shirts, buttons, hats and more!
How you can search
the tobacco company documents
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has written an excellent guide on how to search tobacco industry documents — and
the Legacy National Tobacco Documents Library now offers over 4 million documents online.
Another great research resource is the University of California San Francisco’s Galen II Knowledge Management Library. The following link takes you to a list of scholarly (but easy to comprehend) research on numerous tobacco issues, including the effect of the tobacco industry’s campaign contributions on politicians in several States. This is a most impressive and valuable research resource.