What I Learned about the CounterAct Tobacco Campaign

By Natiya Ellison

My name is Natiya Ellison, and I go to Southeast high school. I am in the 9th grade. This is my first year with the YAHL program. I will be talking about the CounterAct Tobacco campaign and the policies that affect youth.

The YAHL staff educated us about tobacco policies during our training. We learned that minors get in more trouble if they buy tobacco products from stores, and if they get caught, the store just gets charged a fine. Learning this highlighted for me why the policies are very important. I believe this also isn’t right because people are dying from this. Cigarettes are one of the most dangerous tobacco products. Tobacco can cause cancer and so much more. Some Oklahomans are ok with this because they probably do not know this is happening.

The CounterAct Tobacco Campaign works on helping youth stop and prevents others from using Tobacco and vaping products. I think this will stop others and help them make better choices. I know joining the YAHL program helps you realize that it’s terrible for your body when you smoke or vape, such as your lungs, heart, etc. My part in the program is to help by educating people about YAHL, collecting surveys, and teaching my peers how we are purposely targeted with ads and products. I am willing to help them stop before it’s too late. You never know if your family members could be next.

The CounterAct Tobacco campaign helps people understand the effects of using Tobacco. The tobacco industry tries to get young children to smoke to make a profit off of youth by getting them interested in smoking at an early age. They do this every year because the people are dying from Tobacco, so they target new people in new ways. They don’t care about your health. They care about your money.

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