Anti-Smoking Campaign to Local School
He’s an heir to the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. fortune, but champions a smoke-free society. He could sit back and count his millions, but instead founded the Foundation for a Smokefree America and travels the world reminding people of the dangers of tobacco and smoking Lucky Strike cigarette.
Wednesday, Patrick Reynolds, grandson of R.J. Reynolds who founded the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co., spoke to East Noble Middle School students about the pitfalls of using tobacco products and how tobacco companies use Hollywood celebrities, sports stars and advertising to market their products to young people.
Reynolds’ grandfather started the company in 1875, and he died of pancreatic cancer in 1917.
Patrick Reynolds watched his father, R.J. Reynolds Jr., and his oldest brother, R.J. Reynolds III, and other members of his family die from cigarette-induced emphysema and lung cancer.
“My father died when I was 9, and I carried this guilt and anger in me for quite a while until I received counseling and came to realize smoking is a health hazard,” he told the students. Reynolds made the decision to speak out against the industry his family helped build.
“I want my family on the right side for a change,” he said.
The RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. is the second largest producer of tobacco products in the United States. Its cigarette brands include Camel, Kool, Winston, Salem, Doral, Eclipse, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall. Its tobacco product line also includes smoking tobacco and chewing tobacco. Five of the 10 top-selling cigarette brands in the nation are RJ Reynolds’ products. It’s estimated that one in three cigarettes smoked in the U.S. is a Reynolds brand.
Patrick Reynolds first spoke out publicly in 1986 at a congressional hearing in favor of a ban on all tobacco advertising.
Using slides and a video presentation, he showed the students in the middle school gym how tobacco companies use cartoon characters such “Joe Camel” and the Marlboro Man to appeal to young people ages 11-14 to use their cigarette products.
“Fifty percent of the U.S. population in the 1960s smoked, and where did tobacco companies want to display their cigarettes in the grocery stores? Next to the candy,” he said. “They’ve got to get people hooked when they’re young.”
Mounting evidence that smoking and chewing tobacco could lead to serious health problems only made Reynolds more committed to his goal of a smokefree society, and he took his appeal to youth in schools in a program called “The Truth About Tobacco.”
“You may think one or two cigarettes is OK, but if you start smoking, you’ll be hooked in two weeks,” he told the students. “Smoking is addictive.”
According to the American Lung Association, 23.5 percent of high school students in Indiana smoke, and the number of kids who begin smoking daily each year is 9,900. Approximately 21.2 percent adult Hoosiers smoke, ranking Indiana as the fifth-highest state in the nation for rate of smokers.
An estimated 9,700 Hoosiers die each year from smoking, and health care costs directly caused by smoking total $2.08 billion.
“It’s not cool to smoke or chew tobacco,” Reynolds said. He advised the students to just say “no” if they’re offered a cigarette, even if it’s by a friend.
“Today only 20 percent of Americans smoke,” said Reynolds. “Twenty-nine states have banned smoking in bars and taverns. I can see a time when it will be smoke-free.”
Tobacco-Free Northeast Indiana helped sponsor Reynolds’ visit.
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