BORN TO BREATHE
The Born to Breathe Youth Media Showcase Festival is underway providing an opportunity for young people, ages 13 to 24 living in Humboldt, Del Norte, Lake and Mendocino Counties, to express their creativity and concern through spoken/ written word, video, audio, or artwork about the effects of tobacco—presently the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.
Despite the warning label on cigarette packs that Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Health and May Cause Death from Cancer and Other Diseases required by the Federal Trade Commission in June of 1967 and the more recent and stringent ones beginning in June of 2021, the tobacco industry is alive and well, continuing to target youth with marketing strategies such as the 15,000 candy and fruit flavored products—that over 96 percent of kids in California have tried—celebrity endorsements, misleading health claims, ads in popular magazines, and product placement on TV and in movies, and in-store promotions
According to a State of Tobacco Control Report 2023 from the American Lung Association: “Younger adult smokers have been the critical factor in the growth and decline of every major brand and company over the last 50 years. The renewal of the market stems almost entirely from 18-year-old smokers. No more than 5 percent of smokers start after age 24. the brand loyalty of 18-yearold smokers far outweighs any tendency to switch with age… Brands/companies which fail to attract their fair share of younger adult smokers face an uphill battle. They must achieve net switching gains every year to merely hold share… Younger adult smokers are the only source of replacement smokers… If younger adults turn away from smoking, the industry must decline…”
The tobacco industry spends $8.4 billion a year to market their deadly and addictive products, almost $1 million dollars every hour.
The Born to Breathe Festival is sponsored by Norcal4health, a five-year, grant-funded (from
the tobacco tax) project of the California Health Collaborative that works in the four-county, North Coast region, to elevate health and prosperity at the level of policy and planning.
Joann Saccato, Norcal4health's Community and Engagement Coordinator for Lake and Mendocino Counties, says of the festival, “We're sponsoring this event to empower our youth and educate them about how tobacco, vape and nicotine companies are targeting them specifically, to let them know we don't want them to become addicts.
“We're looking at the normalization of these products and the targeting of special populations which include rural and underprivileged areas and people of color, as well. Just look at the corner store in low-income communities with its extensive exposure of tobacco and vaping products.”
Remembering the cigarette industry in the past, she says it is incredible to see what has happened with regards to marketing and advertising in the last 20 or 30 years, making the products look healthy and youthful with the use of colorful ads and products that look similar to other kid-friendly products.
“Those at the state and federal levels are engaged in their roles to regulate; local communities can do even more in choosing to adopt a tobacco retail license with rules that restrict where these products are placed. Del Norte has adopted language in its tobacco license to keep these products 5 feet apart from candy and soda and the city of San Diego at 2 feet apart.”
These licenses can also prohibit retailers near schools; cap the number of tobacco retailers to1 per 2500 residents; restrict pharmacies from selling tobacco products; and limit storefront advertising.
Mendocino County's tobacco license has a ban on flavors that was put into
effect prior to Prop 31 (a California statewide ballot referendum overwhelmingly passed last November prohibiting the sale of certain flavored tobacco products) and the cities of Ukiah, Willits and Fort Bragg are looking at their current tobacco retail license in regards to updating them to be in parity
with the county.
“For me,” says Saccato, “it's about elevating health; about health equity, about built environment. It's not about individual choice, about whether or not someone picks up a cigarette and smokes, but that these choices are shaped by conditions in our community.
Are there restrictions on tobacco use? Do we have parks and healthy food within walking distance? These are the things that impact our community's health and the economic prosperity of our businesses, particularly in our small communities.
“We're working on these issues at the policy and planning level. How do we think upstream, stopping the hurt before it happens? How do we create conditions to elevate our community health? Our general plans and housing elements can actually create the vision and conditions to create health in our neighborhoods and communities. Since general plans are long-term visionary projects, they take time and you may not see their effects today…but you will see them later.”
There are three ways to earn prizes: $20, submit an entry by April 12; $20 attend the festival in May (TBA); $5,000 in cash prizes announced at the festival.
All topics must address one of the following issues: normalization, marketing and targeting special populations, vaping and flavors, mental health and wellness, environment, addiction and health outcomes, other nicotine products such as chew and packets and traditional versus commercial and tobacco use.
Submission categories include: spoken/written word; video; audio; and artwork.
For registration information go to bit.ly/borntobreathe.
Community organizations interested in learning about how community health impacts economic prosperity and/or for a presentation, contact Joann Saccato at jsaccato@healthcollaborative. org.