Debbi Fincher of the San Juan Island Prevention Coalition and Rock Solid Team Advisor shares this report with you…
Rock Solid Youth Prevention Team represented the San Juan Island Prevention Coalition and our community at the annual Prevention Policy Day in Olympia this February. This advocacy effort is organized by the Washington Association for Substance Abuse & Violence Prevention (WASAVP), which fosters and supports youth involvement at the policy level.
As part of the day on the Hill, Rep. Harris and Sen. Kuderer spoke to the youth about why they are champions for House Bill 1074 (Rep. Harris) and its companion, Senate Bill 5057, (Sen. Kuderer), Tobacco 21 Law for Washington State. Johnny Berg, Rock Solid chaperone, shared his support of Tobacco 21, “this approach will drastically drop future users according to the statics they shared which nearly 95% of smokers started before the age of 21.”
We also met and heard from Annie Tegan, from Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, according to recent studies, approximately 2,800 Washington state kids will become addicted to tobacco products each year. Imagine that is like having 39 school buses full of kids on their way to a lifetime of tobacco-related illnesses and addiction. Continue Reading