Teens Bowl to Celebrate New Smoking Ban@Olivette Lanes

The event is hosted by Westminster High School's Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT).

"This is a huge win for the health of youth in St. Louis," said Sherry Blough, adviser to the Westminster youth who had appeared with other St. Louis area youth before the county council and city governments over the past two years. In the past year, St. Louis City has passed a coat tail ordinance that also takes effect Jan. 2, and Clayton, Creve Coeur, Brentwood, and Kirkwood have all passed smoke-free policies. The SWAT group got its start two years ago as part of a youth policy and prevention program at the Tobacco Prevention Center at St. Louis University.

Each day, about 4,000 kids in the United States try their first cigarette and an additional 1,000 kids under 18 years of age become new regular, daily smokers, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That's 400,000 new underage daily smokers in this country each year.  According to the Missouri Foundation for Health, 341,106 kids have become regular smokers in 2010 of those 109,154 will die prematurely from their addiction.

Sources: 

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), HHS, Results from the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, NSDUH: Volume I Summary of National Findings.

http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k9NSDUH/2k9ResultsP.pdf  

Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, tobaccofreekids.org. http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/