Pioneers of Youth Anti-Tobacco Campaign Ready to FYTE again

They were the pioneers of Florida’s campaign to cut teen smoking rates nine years ago.

One became the student body president of a state university. Two are heading up an Orlando area consulting company helping to empower youth leaders to effect social change. One went to work for Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief political advisor, and now works for Gov. Jeb Bush. One was Chief Osceola for the Florida State Seminoles. Two got married as a result of joining the anti-tobacco effort and are now raising their own family of potential youth tobacco prevention leaders.

Thankfully, they’re still committed to the fight, because it’s happening again.

These are a handful of the Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) pioneers who led the successful effort to reduce tobacco use among young people following Florida’s historic legal settlement with the tobacco industry in 1997.

During the last several years, the legislature has slashed funding for the youth tobacco education campaign that was part of the settlement agreement. The settlement called for a two-year, $200 million pilot anti-tobacco education campaign targeted at youth. The resulting campaign – which was developed with input from Florida teens – was nationally recognized for dramatic reductions in teen tobacco use. In 2003 the legislature cut the campaign’s funding to $1 million and kept it at that level for three years. As a result, Florida’s teen tobacco use rates are now leveling off.

To reverse this, Floridians for Youth Tobacco Education [FYTE] is asking voters to support Amendment 4 on the November ballot to force the state to again provide adequate funding for the youth tobacco education campaign. The funds would come from the money the state already gets each year from the tobacco settlement.

THE SWAT PIONEERS

Adrian Abner (Blountstown), 21, is a senior at Florida A&M University. He is a past chairman of the statewide SWAT board. He continues the fight against Big Tobacco today serving as the Youth Board Liaison on the American Legacy Foundation Board of Directors. The foundation is an independent public health organization that addresses the health effects of tobacco use. In addition, Abner currently serves on the American Lung Association’s governmental affairs committee.

Samuel Allen (Altamonte Springs), 24, is vice president of Allen Ortiz Consulting, a grass roots consulting firm aimed at empowering young people to effect social change. From 1998 to 2000 he served as Orange County’s representative on the SWAT state board as well as its executive committee. After the Florida campaign was in full swing, Samuel and Christine Ortiz (featured below) were tapped to travel the country helping youths in other states organize to fight Big Tobacco. They helped anti-tobacco organizations in 15 states get off the ground. He keeps up the fight today working with the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and traveling to schools to educate youths about the dangers of tobacco use and the tactics the industry uses to target them. Next year, he and Ortiz plan to kick off the Teen Institute, a two-week intensive training program for youth leaders around the country who want to take on high profile social issues such as AIDS prevention, fighting tobacco use and others.

Alan Brock (Tallahassee), 25 is a native of Wakulla County. He began working with the American Lung Association at the age of 14. He was tapped to be a spokesperson for SWAT and the anti-tobacco campaign a few years later, spending his senior year of high school and freshman year of college helping to fight Big Tobacco in Florida. Since then he has helped educate people about how the tobacco industry targets youth around the world and continues to work with SWAT students. He used his skills in activism to work in politics during the 2004 elections. This year he was recruited to be the North Florida field director for the Amendment 4 campaign this year.

Brian Cody (Live Oak), 22, was student body president of New College of Florida for two years, and was one of nine students featured in the March 2006 edition of Florida Trend magazine for making an impact on the state from inside and outside of the classroom. He graduated in May with a degree in sociology and began graduate studies at the University of Chicago in September. Since his initial involvement with SWAT, Brian has kept up the fight by traveling the state with other former SWAT members conducting workshops with youth groups on how to make videos for social change.

Christine Ortiz (Altamonte Springs) did a lot of things in 1998 that few 15-year-olds do. She attended the first youth summit where Florida’s SWAT movement to fight Big Tobacco was born and went on to serve two years on SWAT’s state board. By the time she was 17 she was helping youth groups across the country establish tobacco fighting campaigns in their states. At 18 while still in high school, she literally turned her activism battling tobacco into a career. She and former SWAT colleague Samuel Allen created Allen Ortiz Consulting in Altamonte Springs. The firm helps young activists hone their skills for future leadership roles, whether it’s fighting tobacco, AIDS awareness or other social issues. How many teenagers are president of their own consulting firm? She attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating with a degree in political science. Now 23, she continues the fight against tobacco use by helping the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids with its ongoing efforts and launching statewide and international youth empowerment programs. She has also lobbied and addressed legislatures in many states on proposed anti-tobacco legislation.

Steven and Jenna Schneitman (Live Oak) are a match made over anti-tobacco advocacy. The seeds of their union took root when Steven attended a Live Oak High School SWAT meeting in 1999. Jenna, whose mother, Mary Taylor, was the Suwannee County tobacco prevention coordinator, had been with the group since its inception. Their SWAT team produced an edgy video on how athletes are targeted for smokeless tobacco products, and they’ve been fighting tobacco together ever since. Today, Steven, 23, is the tobacco prevention regional coordinator for a 16-county area of North Florida. Jenna, 21, is expecting the couple’s second child in September and still helps with various ant-tobacco activities. She is also a volunteer counselor for underage drinkers in Live Oak. Since that first video, they have teemed up with other SWAT members to produced two documentaries chronicling their anti-tobacco efforts that have received national distribution. Needless to say, when they get together with Jenna’s parents for dinner, the tobacco fight is always a lively part of the discussion.

Erin Sylvester (Panama City), 18, was one of the youngest pioneers of the SWAT effort, serving on its statewide board at the age of 11 when she was in the 6th grade. In 2002 as the vice chairman of the SWAT executive board, she scurried up to the state Capitol in jeans and a t-shirt and convinced a key Republican lawmaker to include $1 million for the youth tobacco education program when neither the House nor the Senate had earmarked any money for the program in their respective budget proposals. Erin continues the fight against youth tobacco use by volunteering with the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, speaking out against candy flavored cigarettes marketed to youngsters and providing input on Federal Drug Administration regulations regarding tobacco use. She was the 2005 Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids Southern Regional Youth Advocate of the Year. This semester she began her freshman year at Florida State University.

Floridians for Youth Tobacco Education, Inc. is a 501(c)(4), social welfare organization that was formed to protect Florida’s youth from tobacco addiction and premature death. It is the joint project of several of the state’s largest voluntary health organizations, led by the American Cancer Society, Florida Division; American Heart Association, Florida/Puerto Rico Affiliate; American Lung Association of Florida and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. For more information on the Floridians for Youth Tobacco Education, Inc. or to sign the petition, visit www.KeepKidsSmokeFree.org.

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Reporters wishing to contact the SWAT pioneers can contact Damien Filer, campaign manager for Floridians for Youth Tobacco Education by phone at (850) 212-1858; or by e-mail at damien@keepkidssmokefree.org.

Pd. Pol. Adv. Paid for by Floridians for Youth Tobacco Education, Inc.