(PRWEB) February 9, 2004--A new lobbying force will enter the political fray in the 2004 legislative session. The campaign, entitled Ignite, is entirely youth-led and will be focusing its efforts on persuading the state legislature to adequately fund tobacco-related programs.
Throughout the course of the 2004 legislative session, Ignite will engage in a number of activities designed to raise public awareness about the lack of state funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs. Activities will include holding a number of press conferences at the state capitol, meeting with legislators and advertising in a number of different mediums, including newspapers and magazines.
But unique to this campaign, as opposed to any other issue-oriented campaign, is that Ignite is entirely youth-led and youth-driven. There is no adult intervention within the program whatsoever.
Walter Kerr, a seventeen year-old senior at Nathan Hale-Ray High School in East Haddam, founded Connecticut’s Ignite campaign. “Connecticut has been given money specifically to address the prevalence of smoking in this state. However, the state legislature has misused these funds, spending the money on every program but tobacco programs,” he says. “Ignite was founded to raise the public’s awareness about this issue and to persuade the state legislature to adequately fund tobacco-related programs.”
In 1998, the state of Connecticut, along with forty-five other states, sued the major cigarette companies in a lawsuit known as the Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement. The cigarette companies settled the lawsuit, agreeing to pay the states millions of dollars each year in order to curtail high smoking rates. However, the state of Connecticut has squandered the funds. In 2004, of the $436 million dollars the state will receive in tobacco revenue, only $500,000 will be spent on tobacco-related programs1.
Jason Giannaros is a senior at Farmington High School. Giannaros, a leader within Ignite, has taken an active role in shaping the campaign’s message. “It is very appropriate that youth are leading this campaign. The tobacco industry, in order to stay profitable, relies on kids to start smoking. We’ve stopped being targets and have started taking action.”
Ignite communicates with its members primarily through the internet. The organization is voluntary and, as of right now, is funded by its members. For more information on Ignite’s activities in Connecticut visit www.ignitect.com. Or, call Walter Kerr at (860) 834-3380 or email him at e-mail protected from spam bots.
1 The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Tobacco State Settlement: Connecticut http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements/StateSettlement.php3?StateID= CT
