Project Prevent, My Reason to Write

How many years has the Arkansas Department of Health spent toiling away to find easy to swallow cessation and youth education campaigns?  Neither of which will have the impact that evidence based efforts to de-normalize tobacco use have.  And most recently the Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program has announced the latest winners for their Project Prevent essay contest. Well, let loose the under inflated balloons. 

Of all the winners of all the age groups none mentioned the tobacco industry.  Only one made reference to the manufacturers of cigarettes boosting nicotine.  A short look at the web page clearly indicates that marketing strategies targeting youth were clearly emphasized.  Well, where was that emphasis rewarded by recognition and awards?

The kids that wrote these essays aren’t gonna be smokers.  They can spell and their syntax is fairly cogent. They pay attention in class.  The young people who are at risk are on the scholastic periphery and an essay contest is maybe one of the most ineffective means of affecting their behavior. The sorts of things that are evidence based to reduce youth initiation are policy changes that challenge the tobacco industry; policies that denormalize tobacco use, taxes, tobacco free space, marketing reform. And here’s the rub. Unless you recruit young people to advocate for these policies their involvement is wasted.  Every science class they’ve taken tells them that tobacco is gonna kill them. But until they are savvied to the fact that someone is playing them for a mark, efforts miss the mark. And unless they become politically involved in policy change they are also misled and disenfranchised in any effort at reducing tobacco prevalence. 

So what we have here with Project Prevent is an activity that not only does not prevent tobacco use it wastes the effort of those youth who might well be engaged in evidence based effective prevention. Local grantees get to say, Woo Hoo! We got the local kid in the paper.  ADH gets to say, Look, a kid in the paper!  But at no point does anyone get to say that this is making a difference in itself.  Good press is good press, but unless there is advocacy for underlying policy change you’re just spending the money. And for far too long TPCP and too many grantees have hoisted a Mission Accomplished banner when the money gets spent. 

Sincere tobacco free advocates need to demand that Settlement funds be spent efficiently to reduce prevalence.  Easy tripe like youth essays have limited value in this endeavor.