News and Events
The Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Chapter Celebrates Not A Lab Rat Day
October 24, 2021
The Gilchrist County SWAT Clubs celebrated Not A Lab Rat Day this October in support of one of the newest tobacco-free holidays. Not A Lab Rat Day is a statewide initiative to encourage youth to refuse to be one of big tobaccos “lab rats” with their newest venture in electronic cigarettes.
Big Tobacco companies are beginning to use the same old tricks they used for years in recruiting new customers. With new flavors, new products, and a rock-solid marketing campaign it is no wonder we have seen a spike in tobacco use amongst the use within our own community.
The youth in Gilchrist County have been affected by this sudden new trend in the tobacco industry; in just 6 years electronic cigarette use has increased 20% in youth from the ages 11-17. This is an alarming increase in youth using these products in such a short time, and it needs to be addressed sooner than later before it gets out of hands.
With our SWAT clubs discussing this data and the risk it has towards adolescent health, our members pulled together and held a poster campaign in the schools to spread the message of this epidemic. They are the generation that will be affected by this newest tobacco trend, and with little to no data on long-term effects vaping can cause the body our SWAT members agreed they do not want to encourage the new “healthy” way to smoke.
For more information, contact Dan Murray at DMurray@QuitDoc.com.
