From March 2005 through December 2005 commercials ran on the The Eagle - 93.9FM which were produced by students at Oakland Junior High. These ads mention the chemicals in Second Hand Smoke then close with the tagline "Take it outside".
Is it just a coincidence that these radio ads are running while the City of Columbia is being lobbied to implement a strict smoking ordinance?
The answer is NO!
The November/December 2004 (pdf) DHSS Tobacco Use Prevention Newsletter has an article about a program called Smokebusters (pdf). Smokebusters is a program for middle schools which was created by Northeastern Missouri University. It has three phases.
- The first phase is educational to try and keep children from smoking.
- The second phase focuses on working with the mass media; learning how to tailor a message for the mass media include print, radio, and tv; then use these skills to reach community leaders and effect policy changes.
The program is funded by a combination of sources including local, state and federal funds from the Chronic Disease Primary Prevention and the Department of Health and Senior Services, as well as non-profit funds from the American Lung Association.
Preventing children from smoking is good and necessary.
Using our tax dollars to turn them into political activists crosses the line.
Here is a news article from the Daily Dunkin Democrat about the program - Smokebusters influence teens to be smoke free.
Posted by Glenn Nielsen on March 10, 2006 at 05:26 PM CST #