Cazenovia College announces enhancements to campus tobacco policy

BY Jason Emerson

editor

Last week, 150 teens from around New York state met in Cazenovia to strategize, discuss and take action against youth tobacco use and tobacco company marketing tactics.

In association with the youth summit at Cazenovia College, the college last week announced enhancements to its policy on the use of tobacco and e-cigarette products on campus.

Reality Check of New York participants strive to expose what they feel are the manipulative and deceptive marketing tactics of the tobacco industry, which spends more than $9 billion yearly promoting tobacco products; produce change in communities through grassroots mobilization and education; and empower youth across the state to become leaders in their communities.

During the Reality Check NY summit, which took place from July 18 to 21 at Cazenovia College, youth honed their public speaking and leadership skills and made plans to fight against the tobacco industry’s influence in their communities. They attended workshops, carried out tobacco-free-themed activities and listened to national youth speakers to achieve their tobacco-free generation goals.

On Thursday, members of the summit participated in multiple activities around the village of Cazenovia to demonstrate their opposition to tobacco use and tobacco marketing.

Their most visible activity occurred in Telephone Park on Albany Street, where teens placed black pinwheels in the grass accompanied by signs describing a host of tobacco use statistics — such as, 29 New Yorkers under the age of 18 become new daily smokers every day and 90 percent of adult smokers started smoking before the age of 18; they used chalk to outline bodies and write facts and stats on the sidewalk to raise awareness about the tobacco industry’s marketing and its effects on young people; and they asked pedestrians near the college to film interviews with them about their knowledge and personal feelings about tobacco use issues.

UP at Cazenovia High School, summit participants inserted “Solo” cups in a chain link fence to craft a tobacco-free message.

“As young people, we are vulnerable, and tobacco industry marketing takes advantage of that. For example, stores near schools have almost three times the amount of tobacco ads than stores in other areas,” said Brennan Hysell, a Reality Check Leader from Oneida County. “We’ve seen enough tobacco promotions and smoking. The solution is to change our communities so that tobacco and tobacco use is not the norm.”

“At this summit, we brainstorm and plan ideas, then bring those home to our communities to unleash them onto the public and try to get a reaction to our message,” said Josh Drake, a summit participant from Oriskany Falls.

Katie Mullin, from Pittsford, said it was “really important to make different communities aware” of the issue, and the sidewalk chalk pictures and stats, which she spent time drawing on Thursday, really grab people’s attention.

“It’s something you don’t see every day,” said her fellow summit participant Lauren Cybul.

Mayor Kurt Wheeler said the village was “delighted” to host the conference for the third year in Cazenovia. “It’s a really important issue for public health,” he said. “We’re very proud of these young people who have taken an active interest in this topic … that they are tackling such a big issue at a young age is very admirable.”

During the three-day summit, Cazenovia College also promoted a tobacco-free norm on campus.

“Cazenovia College is committed to providing a safe and healthful environment for its staff and students. In consideration of the negative health effects of tobacco products, we’ve enhanced our policy from smoke-free to tobacco-free/smoke-free,” said Tim Greene, director of communications and marketing.

For more information on Reality Check of New York and its online campaign #SeenEnoughTobacco, visit realitycheckofny.com or SeenEnoughTobacco.org.