ST. PAUL, Minn., April 22 /PRNewswire Interactive News Release/ -- Fresh from celebrating its one year anniversary, the youth tobacco prevention movement Target Market will hold its first statewide board meeting in St. Paul. Two hundred teens from all ove

The three-day event will culminate in a march from the Radisson City Center to the State Capitol on Tuesday, April 24 at 9:30 a.m. The 200 teens will parade through downtown St. Paul, arrive at the Capitol, and then disperse to meet individually with their local legislators. Following the meetings, teens will assemble on the steps of the Capitol at noon for a rally and a dramatic display of a large mural displaying 12,000 tobacco ads teens torn from magazines during the past several weeks as part of a campaign called ``Rip It Out,'' which was designed to show teens how, despite its protestations to the contrary, the tobacco industry continues to target teens with its advertising. Among other reforms, Target Market has demanded that tobacco executives halt advertising in magazines with teen readership over 1 million. Tobacco companies have not only refused to adopt this reform, they have actually increased tobacco advertising in magazines with heavy youth readership. Target Market teens deliver their message through ads, events, grassroots activities and one-to-one. Though just one year old, TM has more than 20,000 members, representing every county in Minnesota. Additional information about Target Market is available at TMvoice.com . Target Market is the centerpiece of a tobacco prevention initiative being funded with interest generated by the newly created $490 million Minnesota Youth Tobacco Endowment. The principal of that 15-year endowment may not be spent on tobacco prevention, only the interest. The endowment was created with 8 percent of the $6.1 billion Minnesota tobacco lawsuit settlement. The other 92% of the tobacco settlement is being used for other purposes other than tobacco prevention or is not yet obligated.

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