Judi Zabel: Smoking a problem with area teens

As the adult adviser for La Crosse’s FACT (Fighting Against Corporate Tobacco) group, I’m even more concerned for our youths’ health.
Young smokers are replacing dying smokers at an astonishing rate. Each day, 1,200 Americans die from smoking. For every one of those deaths, at least two new youths become regular smokers, and 90 percent of children have tried cigarettes before age 18.
Youth have substantial health risks beginning almost immediately in adolescence. Early heart disease damage is seen in most young smokers and those most sensitive die very young.
Youth are unethically targeted by tobacco industry advertising. The tobacco industry spends $233 million each year in Wisconsin to peddle its deadly products. Compare that to the $5.3 million Wisconsin spends to fight tobacco, and it’s clear that our kids come out on the short end of the stick.
Youth still are lighting up. There are 60,000 Wisconsin teens who are addicted smokers, and the tobacco industry is finding creative ways to solicit more teen smokers by offering candy and fruit-flavored tobacco products. They know if you’re not hooked by age 18, it’s less likely you’ll develop the addiction.
Work remains to end the epidemic. In La Crosse, our FACT group created a 12-foot mural displayed at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, and we will be airing out Big T’s dirty laundry on a clothes line hung with T-shirts telling personal stories, stats and quotes.
Judi Zabel is a health educator with the La Crosse County Health Department.