Broome County Youth and Tobacco Control Representatives Take Fight Against Tobacco Industry to State Capitol

New Surgeon General’s Report Highlights Urgent Need for Continued Investment in Tobacco Control

(Binghamton, NY)- On February 12, 2025, Reality Check youth and representatives from Tobacco-Free Broome Tioga will meet with Senator Lea Webb, Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, and Assemblyman Joseph Angelino in Albany to address the tobacco industry’s harmful impact on youth and public health. They will discuss the tobacco industry’s targeted marketing that attracts and addicts young people in our community and interferes with successful quitting attempts. They will also highlight their local work with health systems to counteract the tobacco industry’s hi-jacking of the public health message. There are, they added, significantly higher adult smoking rates among some demographic groups around the state, groups often targeted by tobacco industry marketing, resulting in tobacco-related health disparities.

During legislative meetings, tobacco control representatives will share with lawmakers that many communities have protected their kids and families by reducing tobacco marketing and keeping stores that sell commercial tobacco products away from schools, community centers, and other youth-oriented public spaces. Many regional health systems around the state have integrated tobacco screening as a regular part of patient visits, helping to ensure no groups are excluded from the latest, most effective treatments for ending nicotine dependency.

NYS youth vape/e-cigarette use rate drops but remains perilously high at nearly 1 in 5[i]
The tobacco industry’s e-cigarette/vape marketing in the past decade has successfully attracted and addicted young people in our communities. In 2018, New York high school student vaping/e-cigarette use peaked at 27.4%. ^vii In the years since, the rate has declined. In 2022, the year with the latest data, nearly 1 in 5 (18.7%) of high school students across the state reported vaping nicotine, compared to a record low of about 1 in 50 (2.1%) who reported smoking cigarettes in 2022. ^vii  Nicotine is particularly dangerous for youth and young adults. Nicotine exposure during adolescence can harm the developing brain and increase the risk of future addiction to other drugs.[ii]

It is through local efforts that Tobacco Control Program representatives and Reality Check youth continue to raise awareness about the devastating harms the tobacco industry inflicts on their communities and the changes other communities have made to protect youth from commercial tobacco product use and nicotine addiction and to help people quit.  

-END-