Anti-tobacco activists draw national attention

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Three Maui County teen-agers and the anti-tobacco movement they're leading in Hawaii were tapped for a national award recognizing their campaign against cigarettes and tobacco advertising aimed at them and their peers.

Molokai High School senior Michelle Magdirila, who recently graduated, placed duct tape over her mouth in a silent protest in May outside a Philip Morris international shareholders meeting in New York City.

At the same event, Kihei Charter School senior Brandon Antonius, another graduate, and Baldwin High School sophomore Alex Halley put black sheets over their heads as they sat inside the shareholders meeting.

The anti-tobacco campaign is personal for all three students.

Magdirila said her aunt died, in part, because of an addiction to tobacco and smoking.

"I don't want to see the rest of my family die because of it," the 18-year-old said in a recent telephone interview from her home in Kaunakakai.

For Halley, his grandfather died from lung cancer when the 16-year-old from Wailuku was much younger.

"I never really got to meet him. I'm bummed about that," he said.

In Antonius' case, a good friend of his dropped out of high school, having been involved in both underage smoking and drinking.

"I believe tobacco is a gateway drug. It leads to other things," said the 17-year-old from Waikapu.

Magdirila, Halley, Antonius and Waipahu High School junior Courtney Viernes-Silva traveled to Washington, D.C., where they received a national advocacy award: the 2009 Tobacco Control Youth Advocate Group of the Year from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

The Hawaii students are all active members of REAL, the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii's tobacco-free program for students and youth. REAL's statewide coordinator Nicole Sutton accompanied the students on a trip in May to the nation's capital for the awards ceremony and to New York City where they held their silent protest at the Philip Morris meeting.

"I feel so excited for them to be getting this recognition. . . . They're being recognized for being so effective," Sutton said.

According to the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, it's estimated that nationally more than 1,300 youth per day become regular, daily smokers and between one-third and one-half will eventually die as a result of their tobacco use.

In Hawaii, 17.5 percent of adults, or 172,700 people, in the state are smokers. At the high school level, 9.7 percent are reported to smoke, and 1,600 youth in Hawaii become new daily smokers each year.

With no paid media support, REAL works through peer-to-peer marketing and grass-roots mobilization to fight against tobacco advertising aimed at young people.

"It's not so much that we're against smoking," Halley explained. "Our main focus is the tobacco industry and how they get young people to pick up a dangerous habit. They do artsy advertising. They pimp our culture."

On Molokai, Magdirila convinced seven of eight retail stores to participate in two separate "Tobacco No Sale" days. She's also helped to organize informational booths on the negative effects of tobacco at a music concert in Hoolehua, and she has traveled to Oahu to advocate for legislation and hold "Kick Butts" days, which encourage people to stop smoking.

REAL advocates have worked to pass and defend a statewide smoke-free workplace law and advocated for a tobacco tax increase on "other tobacco products" other than cigarettes. REAL has also worked on issues that extend beyond Hawaii, such as supporting Federal Drug Administration regulation of tobacco products.

Their proudest achievements include a "Girl Talk" campaign in response to R.J. Reynolds' marketing of Camel No. 9 cigarettes, and "Youth United for Kick Butts Day," an all-day event held at the Hawaii State Capitol.

Halley has participated in REAL's youth training sessions in Hana to talk about advertising strategies employed by tobacco corporations. Antonius has also been involved in numerous REAL events across the state and the country. This week, he's attending a youth conference on tobacco in Arizona.

"REAL empowers youth to stand up for what we believe in," Antonius said. "I had no idea I would be traveling like this, advocating here and there. It's helped me to become a community leader."

Magdirila said that while REAL's activities have been fruitful on the state level, she's especially grateful that she's been able to make a difference within her own family. An aunt, to whom she has spoken for months about her involvement in REAL and the lessons it teaches about the dangers of tobacco, recently quit smoking.

"I think she was already wanting to quit, but it really hit hard when I told my stories and how it's not fair that young people are being targeted for tobacco," Magdirila said.

* Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.