Kick Butts Blog

Today is Kick Butts Day

Today is Kick Butts Day, and youth everywhere are standing up to Big Tobacco. We’re expecting more than 1,000 creative events across the United States and around the world. On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies’ devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free by joining in creative events ranging from classroom activities to educate their peers about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on the progress the U.S. has made in reducing youth smoking and the actions needed to create the first tobacco-free generation. Since 2000, the national smoking rate among high school students has fallen by 71 percent (from 28 percent in 2000 to 8 percent in 2016). However, the fight against tobacco is far from over:

• Tobacco use is still the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the U.S., killing over 480,000 people and costing about $170 billion in health care expenses each year.
• Tobacco companies spend $8.9 billion a year – $1 million every hour – to market tobacco products in the U.S., often in ways that appeal to kids.
• Electronic cigarettes have become the most popular tobacco product used by kids – nationwide, 11.3 percent of high school students use e-cigarettes compared to 8 percent who smoke cigarettes. The latest trend with teens is JUUL, an e-cigarette that looks like a computer flash drive and comes in flavors like mango and fruit medley.

On Kick Butts Day, kids and health advocates are calling on elected officials to implement proven strategies that make up a “roadmap to a tobacco-free generation.” These strategies include tobacco tax increases, comprehensive smoke-free laws, raising the tobacco sale age to 21, well-funded tobacco prevention programs and banning the sale of flavored tobacco products.

It's time to create the first tobacco-free generation. Are you with us?

Are you interested in learning about Kick Butts Day events happening near you? Check out our interactive map or read state press releases on featured Kick Butts Day events.

Join us by sharing how and why YOU kick butts on social media using the hashtag #KickButtsDay and check out our live gallery of leaders kicking butts.

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About Gustavo TorrezGustavo Torrez is the Director of the Youth Advocacy Program at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and has been involved in the fight against tobacco for the past 19 years.