Combating tobacco usage first starts with the youth.
The Carter County Health Department has been on the forefront of promoting tobacco cessation and helped the area receive state notoriety thanks to local youth participating in the annual FACT Summit with their peers last year and having one student, Pate Anglin, serve as a state ambassador.
Now as the initiative grows, Carter County Drug Prevention recently hosted the county’s Teen Tobacco Board as they worked with Paul Loeser with Vanderbilt University.
The teenagers worked alongside Loeser as he taught them about developing a retailer assessment.
Loeser spent the evening teaching students how retailers market to the youth and how the students can use the information to analyze their marketing.
“We are so grateful to be invited to participate in this initiative,” said Jilian Reece, CCDP director. “It is valuable for our youth to know how tobacco companies are marketing to them. It is also valuable to CCDP to gain this knowledge as students go into stores and evaluate tobacco marketing strategies in our county.”
The initiative was created from the Learning Environment Assessment & Feedback (LEAR) Committee formed by the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
CCDP is continually looking to build up a presence for the youth and encourage local children to steer clear from using tobacco products and other addictive agents.
Based in downtown Elizabethton, the CCDP Youth Opportunity Center allows area youth to have a fun and safe environment while learning ways of developing healthier lifestyles and helping to promote to their peers.
For more information, individuals are encouraged to visit the Carter County Drug Prevention Coalition Facebook page online. Reece added the Teen Tobacco Board is looking to grow and is welcoming any teenagers wanting to help with tobacco cessation and other projects.