KICK BUTTS DAY EMPOWERS MONROE YOUTH TO EXPOSE THE E-CIGARETTE INDUSTRY
Students Working Against Tobacco Declares Florida Youth Are “Not A Lab Rat!”
Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) at Key West High School,
Marathon Middle High School, and Coral Shores High School are standing up to the electronic
cigarette industry for the 24th Annual Kick Butts Day, Wednesday, March 20, 2019. This
national day of activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, encourages youth
to raise awareness of the problem of tobacco use in their community and urge elected officials
to take action to protect kids from tobacco.
SWAT’s theme this year is “Not A Lab Rat!” empowering Florida youth to declare they are not
part of a ‘social experiment’ for the addiction and harms of e-cigarettes. While e-cigarette
companies continue to deny marketing their addictive products to young people, the fact is that
one in four Florida youth (ages 11-17) tried e-cigarettes in 2018,1 and nearly one in four Florida
high school students reported current use in 2018 – an astounding 58 percent increase
compared to 2017.2
In Monroe County, youth e-cigarette use rates reached 22.1 percent in 2018. That is why this
Kick Butts Day, Monroe County SWAT is spreading the message that e-cigarette use leads to
nicotine addiction and is harmful to the health of youth. In partnership with Womankind and the
Florida Department of Health in Monroe, SWAT participated in youth health fairs at Marathon
Middle High School, Key West High School, and Coral Shores High School throughout the
month of March to raise awareness of the harmful health effects of e-cigarettes and the tobacco
industry’s tactics to target youth. Later this month, Marathon Middle High School will be using 88
pinwheels on campus to visually represent the 88 Florida adults who die every day from
tobacco.
Florida’s youth are fighting Big Tobacco by exposing the e-cigarette industry’s efforts to addict
their generation. As a response to the skyrocketing use of e-cigarettes among youth, the
student-led organization launched its “Not A Lab Rat” campaign in October 2018. Throughout
the year SWAT chapters will work to dispel myths and educate their peers on the truth about ecigarettes,
commemorating on the second annual statewide “Not A Lab Rat Day” on October
23, 2019.
The fact is that e-cigarettes are not harmless. Many contain nicotine,3 among other harmful
chemicals,4 ultrafine particles and cancer-causing toxins.5 Nicotine is highly addictive and can
harm adolescent brain development, which continues into the early to mid-20s.6
SWAT aims to empower, educate and equip Florida youth to revolt against Big Tobacco. SWAT
is a movement of youth working together to de-glamorize tobacco use. Their efforts aim to
shape tobacco free norms, make tobacco less desirable, less acceptable and less accessible.
For more information or to get involved, visit swatflorida.com.
About Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT)
SWAT is Florida’s statewide youth organization working to mobilize, educate and equip Florida
youth to revolt against and de-glamorize Big Tobacco and the e-cigarette industry. SWAT is a
united movement of empowered youth working towards a tobacco free future.
To learn more about Students Working Against Tobacco, visit www.swatflorida.com or follow us
on Instagram at @swatflorida.
About Tobacco Free Florida
The department’s Tobacco Free Florida campaign is a statewide cessation and prevention
campaign funded by Florida’s tobacco settlement fund. Since the program began in 2007, more
than 212,000 Floridians have successfully quit using one of Tobacco Free Florida’s free tools
and services. There are now approximately 451,000 fewer adult smokers in Florida than there
was 10 years ago, and the state has saved $17.7 billion in health care costs.7 To learn more
about Tobacco Free Florida’s Quit Your Way services, visit www.tobaccofreeflorida.com or
follow the campaign on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TobaccoFreeFlorida or on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/tobaccofreefla.
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