March
11, 2000
Governor Bob Taft
30th Floor
77 South High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215-6117
Dear Governor Taft,
If I heard of a way to spend ten dollars to cut my
child’s risk of becoming a smoker in half, I would gladly spend it. Probably,
just about every person in Ohio would also spend it. An article in the March 5,
2000 Columbus Dispatch proves that
spending money on negative tobacco advertising did just that. There was a “54
percent decline in middle school tobacco use over the past two years, and a 24
percent drop among high school students” in Florida. Imagine the long-term
impact as the middle‑schoolers reach high school and then college,
parenthood, etc.
I realize that it’s not the government’s job to
parent our kids. However, only government can fund a program of this scope. Who
is the government anyway? It is us. And it’s our money too. Please consider
passing legislation to combat youth smoking aggressively. And avoid instructive
ads. They seem like they should greatly help with their depictions of the
terrible problems that come from smoking. I remember the fried egg ad “This is
your brain. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?” The ad graphically
instructed youth about drugs’ dangers. But, by looking at drug use statistics,
they didn’t work at all. Unfortunately, kids (and adults too) are better
deterred when they see tobacco used by “uncool” people or when the user of
tobacco becomes a social pariah. I realize that there are already ads on TV,
magazines and billboards doing just that. I was hoping to see them turning up
and becoming more aggressive.
I hope that we have properly instructed our child
well enough to avoid the drug. Teaming this with the fact that we don’t smoke,
should greatly improve her odds against smoking. However, I don’t think it will
cost a dime to push these ads. We already have a healthy settlement from the
tobacco companies because of the health costs their products have caused. What
better way to spend that money than to reduce smoking?
If the anti‑tobacco ads worked so well, I
wonder if new anti‑alcohol, anti‑drug, and anti‑drunk driving
ads would work the same way. Remember that instructive ads appear less
beneficial than dramatic portrayals of people becoming social outcasts, etc. when
they take up the bad habits.
Please do this for our children. It appears to be an easy choice. Please contact me with your feelings on this issue.
