prevention – Memphis Flyer

PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Tennessee ranks 34th in the nation in funding programs to protect kids from tobacco, according to a national report released today by a coalition of public health organizations.

Tennessee currently spends $10 million a year on tobacco prevention programs, which is 31 percent of the minimum amount of $32.2 million recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Last year, Tennessee ranked last in the nation, spending nothing on tobacco prevention.

The report’s key findings for Tennessee include:

— Tobacco companies spend more than $406 million a year on marketing in
Tennessee. This is more than 40 times what the state spends on tobacco
prevention.

— Tennessee this year will collect $511.5 million from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 2 percent of it on tobacco prevention.

Earlier this year, the state Legislature approved a plan proposed by Governor Phil Bredesen to allocate $10 million for programs to keep kids from smoking and help smokers quit, a historic move for a state that has no history of spending money on tobacco prevention. Bredesen also proposed and the legislature approved a new smoke-free workplace law and a 42-cent increase in the state cigarette tax.

Said William V. Corr,
Executive Director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: “Despite this
progress, Tennessee still spends less than a third of the CDC’s recommended
minimum for tobacco prevention. It’s critical that Tennessee build on its
progress because tobacco companies are spending huge sums to market their
deadly and addictive products. Tobacco prevention is an important investment
that protects kids, saves lives and saves money for taxpayers by reducing
tobacco-related health care costs.”

Nine years after the 1998 state tobacco settlement, the report finds that the states this year have increased total funding for tobacco prevention programs by 20 percent, to $717.2 million. But most states still fail to fund tobacco prevention programs at minimum levels recommended by the CDC, and altogether, the states are providing less than half what the CDC recommends.

Only three states — Maine, Delaware and Colorado — currently fund tobacco prevention programs at CDC minimum levels.

Outside the Nappi by Nature salon on May 30th, poet J’malo Torriel, the salon’s owner Sefu Uhuru, and three others say they were brutally attacked by Memphis police officers for no apparent reason. Following the attack, three officers were relieved of duty pending an internal investigation.

Ironically, the group was there to begin rehearsal for their play Why We Die, a serious look at why so many young African-American men face untimely deaths in Memphis.

Torriel (pictured at right with Jasira Montsho) is a member of the spoken-word group Brotha’s Keepa. He began writing the play three years ago in response to the homicide rate for that demographic.

“It’s a play about four young men who are childhood friends. They all end up putting themselves in harm’s way because of social engineering,” says Torriel, who also directs and acts in the play.

“It tackles parents being careful of what they do in front of their children and being economically independent, so kids don’t grow up thinking they have to make money off of crime,” Torriel adds.

Proceeds from the play will benefit Brotha’s Keepa’s Youth Prison Prevention program, their Summer Youth Theatre Camp, and their efforts to feed homeless people downtown.

“Why We Die,” Friday-Saturday, September 28th-29th, 8 p.m. and Sunday, September 30th, 3 and 7:30 p.m., Southwest Tennessee Community College Theatre, 737 Union (409-2655 or 859-4051). $15 advance/$20 door.