MIDWAY, FL - Today is National Kick Butts Day.
It's a day to encourage smokers to kick the habit.
We talked about what this day represents on Sunrise.
Kick Butts Day is a national day of activism that empowers youth across the country to stand out, speak up and seize control against Big Tobacco.
On Kick Butts Day, teachers, youth leaders and health advocates organize events to raise awareness of the problem of tobacco use in their state or community, encourage youth to reject the tobacco industry's deceptive marketing and stay tobacco-free, and urge elected officials to take action to protect kids from tobacco.
It promote programs that are entailed to help prevent underage smoking.
The Florida Department of Health's Tobacco Free Florida has THE FACTS NOW campaign.
THE FACTS NOW gives young people the facts the tobacco industry doesn't want them to know so that they can make an informed choice.
We also have SWAT, which is Students Working Against Tobacco.
This is a state-wide initiative where youth are empowered to educate their peers and community members about the dangers of tobacco and the historic marketing practices of the tobacco industry.
SWAT works to change the way people think about tobacco…making it less desirable, less acceptable and less accessible. We do this by advocating for change in local policies that affect how tobacco is marketed, how it is old, and where it can be used.
Nine out of 10 smokers start by age 18. Unfortunately, 3 out of 4 teen smokers can't quit by the time they become adults, and cigarettes kill 1 out of 2 long term smokers.
At the current rate, 5.6 million people who are currently under age 18 will die prematurely because of smoking.
Lungs continue to grow until you are in your late teens or early 20s.
So if you smoke when you're young, your lungs never grow to their potential size and never perform at full capacity.
Even if you eventually end up quitting smoking, this early lung damage won't completely go away, at least not in most cases.
Smoking is proven to cause cancer, heart disease, stroke and lung disease. It also harms nearly every organ of the body.
There are currently 10 SWAT clubs in Leon County.
Although Kick Butts Day is March 15th our SWAT clubs will be doing school-wide activities throughout the month of March.
For more information about events taking place you can visit tobaccofreeleon.org.
