Youth across New Mexico advocate for Tobacco-Free Schools

Category: Non-Local News Releases Non-Local News Releases
Published: 20 March 2018 20 March 2018

SANTA FE, NM – Youth leaders at nine schools across New Mexico are hosting 'Kick Butts Day' events Wednesday to raise awareness about their schools' tobacco- and e-cigarette-free policies. Increased awareness of tobacco-free school policies helps students, staff, and campus visitors comply with these standards and ensures that schools are truly tobacco-free environments.

The Kick Butts Day events will be held Wednesday at:

  • Atrisco Heritage Academy (Albuquerque)
  • Gadsden High School (Anthony)
  • Navajo Preparatory School (Farmington)
  • V. Sue Cleveland High School (Rio Rancho)
  • Arrowhead Park Early College High School (Las Cruces)
  • Tucumcari Middle School (Tucumcari)
  • Los Lunas High School (Los Lunas)
  • Newcomb High School (Newcomb)
  • and H. Miyamura High School (Gallup)

"Schools are places where kids learn, inside and outside the classroom, and we're very proud of these teens," said Department of Health Cabinet Secretary Lynn Gallagher. "They are applying their lessons learned to improve public health in their own communities by helping to reduce tobacco use."

The students are coordinating these efforts as part of the Evolvement Program of New Mexico and the 24/7 Campaign, two youth initiatives that focus on promoting policy change as a solution to the problems created by tobacco use. Both initiatives are supported by New Mexico Department of Health's Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program (TUPAC) with Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement Funds.

Kick Butts Day is a national day of action empowering youth to stand up and speak out about the dangers of not just cigarettes but all tobacco products. The day was created in 1996 by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Fewer New Mexico teens are smoking cigarettes. In 2017, the latest data available, an estimated 10.6 percent smoked, compared to 14.4 percent just four years before, putting the rate of cigarette smoking among high school youth at an all-time low in New Mexico – about one in ten students.

Among high school aged students, only 35 percent have ever tried smoking cigarettes, which is down significantly from the 62 percent rate of experimentation back in 2005. However, a US Surgeon General report, released in December 2016 reveals e-cigarette experimentation is rising. In New Mexico, about one in three youth who have tried an e-cigarette have never smoked a tobacco cigarette.

The Department of Health's TUPAC program provides smoking cessation programs. Visit the Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program website for details.

You can also learn more, by visiting the 24/7 campaign or Evolvement New Mexico program websites.

For more information about the national campaign, visit the national Kick Butts Day website.

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