JACKSBORO, TN (SPECIAL TO WLAF) – The Tennessee Department of Health is releasing a new public service campaign today featuring Youth Ambassadors with the Tennessee Stop Tobacco and Revolutionize Our New Generation (TNSTRONG) program raising awareness to the resurgence of smoking on-screen and its influence on Tennessee’s young people.

The SOS: Smoking On Screen PSA reveals the progress made in removing depictions of smoking from movie and television screens by 2007. However, now 25 million youth nationally are exposed to smoking imagery in video streaming, available through internet-connected devices.

“Removing nicotine product-use references from all media is incredibly important,” Greene County TNSTRONG Ambassador Samantha Kendall said. “Current laws do not include streaming media. So, Big Tobacco can use streaming platforms, like YouTube, to advertise their products. This means that countless children and teens are influenced to use nicotine products. I don’t want to see my peers caught in Big Tobacco’s trap.”

Tennessee has lowered the statewide youth smoking rate over the last decade, while during the same timeframe a youth vaping epidemic has emerged. The CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey estimates 40 percent of Tennessee youth experiment with e-cigarettes and 20 percent have used these products in the prior 30 days. This is twice the rate of e-cigarette use in Tennessee adults.

The SOS: Smoking On Screen PSA is the most recent example of TNSTRONG’s educational activism, where three Youth Ambassadors travelled from across the state to record the video’s narration in Nashville.

Watch the SOS: Smoking On Screen PSA video. “This experience showed me just how much influence Big Tobacco marketing has on the youth who are simply watching their favorite streaming shows,” Weakley County TNSTRONG Ambassador Annabell Lovell said. “Getting to go to Ocean Way Studio, where so many artists have recorded their music, and record narration for the SOS video is so cool! The experience opened my eyes to there being many ways we can keep youth away from tobacco products.“

TNSTRONG is a youth-led, statewide movement committed to raising awareness of the dangers of smoking and to fighting the nicotine industry’s influence on Tennessee youth. TNSTRONG Youth Ambassadors plan, implement, and participate in smoking education and advocacy events across the state. Youth Ambassadors engage in local and statewide activism, educate peers on smoking-related issues, and seek to inspire others to act against smoking.

The mission of the Tennessee Department of Health is working to protect, promote, and improve the health and well-being of all people in Tennessee. Learn more about TDH services and programs HERE. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 02/05/2024-6AM)

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