SAN ANTONIO – Wednesday is National Kick Butts Day. It is designed to discourage youth from using tobacco products.
A local group, the Bethel Prevention Coalition, took advantage of the national event and emphasized its efforts to help local youth avoid the pitfalls of tobacco addiction.
Bethel organizer and former San Antonio District 2 City Councilman Keith Toney said fighting tobacco use is a very personal battle to him.
"My mother died from emphysema. It is a slow, painful death. She was born in 1924, so it was a different era," Toney said.
He said his mother began smoking before smoking was understood to be dangerous. He also said that during his mother's heyday, smoking was seen as glamorous.
"But it wasn't so glamorous when she laid in a hospital bed begging us to let her die," Toney said.
Another of the Bethel group organizers, Commissioner Keely Petty, said tobacco use is often a gateway drug.
"We believe that if we can discourage the early onset use of tobacco use, then we shut that door to the gateway drugs that are available," Petty said.
Bethel members said that vaping is tricky, because it sidesteps older laws that protect consumers and children from tobacco products and advertising.
Dr. Marie Priestly, a retired Judson ISD teacher and a Christian counselor, said youth think vaping looks safe, "although it is dangerous."
"But to them, they think it's candy. They think it's fun. And they're familiar with it," Priestly said.
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids reports tobacco companies spend almost $10 billion year to market their products. That amounts to about $1 million an hour.