Christina Bryan, You’re the Cure advocate, recently shared some words of wisdom with us, "My parents, life-long chain smokers, died prematurely as a direct result of their smoking addiction. As a heart attack survivor, I have never smoked and advise current smokers to quit immediately and non-smokers to never start. Don't put yourself in harm's way."
On Wednesday, February 25 we celebrated the 25th anniversary of our state’s smoke-free law. As advocates we are building a healthier world.
Yet cigarette smoking continues to be the leading preventable risk factor for chronic disease. Did you know that overall tobacco use among North Carolina high school students increased from 25.8% to 29.7% between 2011 and 2013? During that same time period, the use of electronic cigarettes by North Carolina high school students increased 352%, from 1.7% to 7.7%. These statistics are going in the wrong direction.
Now imagine having a generation of kids that don’t become addicted to tobacco.
Tell your lawmakers to support funding for tobacco-use prevention and cessation programs.
In the last 50 years, 20 million Americans have died prematurely due to tobacco-caused illnesses. Currently North Carolina provides no state funding for tobacco use prevention and only $1.2 million for QuitlineNC.
We need your help to urge our lawmakers to fund tobacco-use prevention and cessation programs.
What do you IMAGINE for North Carolina’s tobacco-use prevention and cessation programs?
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