Pictured left to right: Community Engagement Coordinator Ken Dalhgren, Falconer Reality Check members Jay, Atlas, and Emily, and Reality Check Coordinator Jon Chaffee. Submitted photo

Falconer Reality Check members joined more than 70 teens at Keuka College in the Finger Lakes Region of New York recently to gain leadership, self-empowerment and team-building skills to produce change in their communities. This youth organization, Reality Check of New York State – part of Tobacco Free Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, works to expose what they see as the tobacco industry’s deceptive and manipulative marketing tactics that appeal to youth and lead to nicotine addiction.

When New York State ended the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in May 2020, it was a significant step toward reducing youth tobacco use. However, e-cigarette use remains the most used tobacco product among New York State youth, 22.5%. And, more than half of teens falsely believe e-cigarettes are harmless.

Youth will apply skills learned to raise awareness of the tobacco industry’s impact on this region’s young people During the summit’s Activism Training Fair, youth experienced a variety of hands-on, highly visual and engaging activities to mobilize and educate communities about Big Tobacco’s impact on young people. The Falconer youth helped with cups in the fence activity that showed the It’ Not Just Campaign logo and the fatal figures display.

They shared startling information about tobacco industry marketing and its effect on youth smoking initiation including:

¯ The average age of a new smoker is 13 years old and 90 percent of adult smokers say they first tried smoking by age 18.

¯ In 2019, cigarette and smokeless tobacco companies spent $8.2 billion on advertising and promotions in the U.S. alone.

¯ To catch the attention of youth, tobacco companies use colorful packaging that sometimes imitates the packaging of popular candy brands. Plus, tobacco product advertisements in stores are often at children’s eye level (less than three feet off the ground), and tobacco products are placed near candy, toys and other youth-friendly items.

¯ Menthol cigarettes, leads to increased smoking initiation among youth and young adults, greater addiction and decreased success in quitting smoking.

¯ Youth who initiate using menthol cigarettes are more likely to become addicted and become long-term daily smokers.

Reality Check of New York State is a program of YOUR ORG’S NAME which are funded by the New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Tobacco Control’s, Tobacco Control Program of New York State (TCP). TCP aims to reduce illness, disability and death related to tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure, and to alleviate the social and economic burdens caused by tobacco use.