OPINION: It’s time to kick tobacco to the curb
Tobacco use continues to be the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and New York City – killing more than 12,000 New Yorkers over the age of 35 every year. Tragically, the addiction starts very young: 90 percent of smokers begin before the age of 18, and one third of these adolescents will die prematurely as a direct result of smoking. Nationally, a whopping 700 kids become regular smokers every single day.
These statistics are not new. So why, in this age of advanced medical science and increased access to information, do we still tolerate the widespread availability of these deadly products in nearly every New York City neighborhood? Perhaps part of the answer lies in the fact that the pervasive presence of tobacco retail outlets has become normalized in our communities; especially communities of color. More than 8,500 tobacco shops swamp New York City, and in far too many neighborhoods tobacco retail can be found on nearly every corner and every block.
In Brooklyn alone, 5,000 high school aged kids currently smoke, and more than a third of them obtain their cigarettes from neighborhood retail stores. How can it be that it is easier for most Brooklyn kids to encounter tobacco products than libraries, playgrounds, or recreational centers near their homes? Our youngest generations deserve better than to live in a tobacco swamp festering with deadly products and in environments where access to tobacco makes it easy to start and harder to quit smoking. It’s time we all became aware of Big Tobacco’s aggressive and savvy marketing techniques that aim to lure teens into a lifetime of addiction and disease.