The Virginia Youth Tobacco Project is
conducting studies at VCU to determine
how to prevent underage smoking in
children.
The project’s main goal is to conduct
scientific research on youth tobacco use.
Executive Director Earl Dowdy said
the issue of youth tobacco prevention
is complex.
“A fair portion of initiation and addiction
is genetically induced,” Dowdy said.
“There is some research that says nicotine
does cause some brain damage.”
The project is conducting studies to
discover which genes trigger tobacco use.
The research is funded by the Virginia
Tobacco Settlement Foundation, which
is behind such ad campaigns as “Why
Do You Think?”, to help reduce youth
tobacco use. The foundation also is
creating new initiatives that aim to drive
a mass anti-tobacco campaign.
Another innovative program by the
Virginia Youth Tobacco project will
attempt to translate the research from
the laboratory to the community. Dowdy
said the research-translation effort will
use surveys and focus groups in the
Richmond community to measure tobacco
use among children younger than
18. The program will train high school
students to deliver a negative tobacco
message to other young people.
“The initiative is in its second year
in Northumberland, Essex and Orange
counties,” Dowdy said.
VCU alumna Rebecca Pelletier, 27,
said the project’s efforts are not enough
to stop youth smoking.
Pelletier is the volunteer coordinator
for Strategies to Elevate People, a local
non-profit organization with goals to
eliminate local poverty through education
and employment. Pelletier said
she sees young men in Richmond’s
poverty-stricken Jackson Ward community
purchasing tobacco products in
their local markets.
“I feel bad for them that they are addicted
to something at such a young age.
And most of the time, they do not realize
they are addicted,” Pelletier said.
Leading tobacco retailer Phillip Morris
instituted the “We Card” program to
help prohibit underage tobacco sales.
According to the Phillip Morris Web
site, for a “nominal fee,” the “We
Card” program provides retailers with
tools and resources, as well as offers
educational training about how to avoid
selling tobacco products to underage
customers.
Yet, many retailers in the Jackson
Ward community are not asking young
children for identification when purchasing
tobacco products, Pelletier said.
“(Kids) have all seen the ads. They just
really do not care right now. (Smoking)
is cool and accessible to them . so why
not do it?” Pelletier said. “The ads are
pointless if we are not going to prevent
people from selling it.”
VCU senior psychology major Jennifer
Long, 28, said store owners who
sell tobacco to children younger than
18 years old are sending the wrong
message.
“(People) should be arrested for
breaking the law,” Long said.
Tobacco companies are good at
realizing young people direct cultural
trends, Dowdy said.
“We need to understand what is at
stake. Literally, hundreds of thousands
of lives will be lost unless we can figure
out better ways to do what we are doing,”
Dowdy said.
For more information about how to get involved
with the Virginia Youth Tobacco Project, log onto
vytp.vcu.edu or vtsf.org.