When members of the Lynchburg Teen Advisory Board talked to youngsters recently about the evils of smoking, they didn’t hold anything back. It was part of a program the board members put on for the Churches for Urban Ministry’s Camp Timothy, YMCA camp

One by one, the advisory board members from Heritage and E.C. Glass high schools and Linkhorne and Sandusky middle schools laid out the perils of smoking in a way that the surgeon general’s warnings on packs of cigarettes avoids. Smokers go to the hospital more often than non-smokers; smokers catch more colds; smokers run slower than non-smokers. One in five deaths in the United States is related to smoking; smoking costs $1,200 a year assuming a pack a day at more than $3 each. And another evil that generated lots of attention: girls who smoke are seven times more likely to grow facial hair than those who don’t. Orlando Spinner, one of the board members, held up a sign listing the loss of potential life expectancy for those who smoke cigarettes. The figures are stark - 9,125 days, which boils down to 300 months or 25 years. For those who have sought to spread the word about the hazards and addictive nature of smoking to young people, advice from the teens is more than welcome. It’s important to get that message across before they start smoking. The teens created the program as a way to spread their message and reduce tobacco use among their friends. Earlier this month, they helped spread the anti-smoking message by spending a day cleaning up cigarette butts in Miller Park. The 'Y Campaign,' an initiative started by the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation with money from the tobacco companies, created the Teen Advisory Board, which locally is part of the Alliance for Families and Children. Sheyna Stinnette, a TAB facilitator, said that any student who makes smart choices and wants to be a positive role model for other youths in the community is welcome to join the effort and help spread the anti-smoking message. In Canada, that message has received a significant boost with the graphic messages displayed on packs of cigarettes - messages that are far more effective than the mild warnings printed on packs in the United States. In fact, smokers in the United States could face those graphic messages if Congress follows the lead of the U.S. Senate, which has approved them. The health warnings could feature color images of cancerous lungs, diseased gums or a stroke-damaged brain. Other warnings posted prominently on cigarette packs in Canada show a photo of a pregnant woman holding a cigarette, with the warning: "Cigarettes hurt babies. Tobacco use during pregnancy reduces the growth of babies during pregnancy. These smaller babies may not catch up in growth after birth and the risks of infant illness, disability and death are increased." Contrast that with one of the current surgeon general’s warnings in this country that says: "Smoking by pregnant women may result in fetal injury, premature birth and low birth rate." Another of the Canadian warnings from Health Canada features a photo of two young boys with the headline: 'DON’T POISON US.' The warning: "Second-hand smoke contains carbon monoxide, ammonia, formaldehyde, benzo{a}pyrene and nitrosamines. These chemicals can harm your children." In endorsing sweeping new federal regulations to combat youth smoking, the Senate approved a measure last month that would require the more explicit written warnings on cigarette packs and would move them from the side of the pack to the front or the back, making them far more prominent than they are now. Supporting the more graphic images during debate on the issue in July, Senator Richard J. Durban, D-Ill., said that instead of the old and 'worthless' warnings on U.S. packs, Canada has 'clear warnings that might give somebody some pause. Our (Food and Drug Administration) ought to have that same authority. He wouldn’t get any argument from Lynchburg’s Teen Advisory Board members on that. But don’t hold your breath. The House is opposed to giving the FDA any such authority over regulating tobacco products. Too bad.

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