Altria in your community?

Go to this site where you can identify who Altria funds in your community.

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Help us identify where the tobacco industry is promoting its product in your community:

Have you been to a sports or cultural event where corporate tobacco companies (Altria, Brown & Williamson) are listed in the program as sponsors? Have you been to a rodeo or county fair and seen a large tent or truck distributing tobacco samples to "Adults Only"?

Please let us know where you have seen promotion of tobacco.

Send us an email

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Bulls and Barrels Rodeo Sponsored by USSTC

New York State Fair
Syracuse , New York
August 29, 2005

Follow this link to the on-line petition to the Director of the 2005 NYS Fair in Syracuse NY. The petition urges the director to sever the relationship with US Smokeless Tobacco Company and adopt a written policy that prohibits sponsorship, exhibits and any other involvement by all tobacco companies at the State Fair. US Smokeless Tobacco Company is sponsoring the Bulls & Barrels rodeo at the NYS Fair.

The Problem

• This year, the 2005 New York State Fair has welcomed United States Smokeless Tobacco Company (USSTC) sponsorship of the Bulls and Barrels rodeo on August 29.
• This event has a ticket price of $8.00 for adults and $5.00 for children aged 12 and under – just the group USSTC would like to reach with their marketing activities.
• The average age of initiation of smokeless tobacco is 10 years old.
• Tobacco company sponsorship of community events and activities is a marketing strategy to recruit youth and adult tobacco users and to normalize the use of tobacco products
• Our State Fair is a family event. Parents do not bring their children to the Fair so they can be marketed to by companies with such a long history of fraud and deceit who sell products so defective they actually kill people who use them as intended.
• The suffering and devastation tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco, cause to our families and neighbors here in New York and across the nation is great.
• Smokeless tobacco users are up to 50 times more likely to get oral cancer than nonusers. (S.T.O.P. Guide, 1997; Hatsukami, D. & H Severson, Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 1999.)
• Smokeless tobacco is associated with oral cancers, tooth and gum disease, and cardiovascular disease. At least 28 cancer-causing chemicals have been identified in smokeless tobacco products. This product typically contains sand and grit which can wear down your teeth. (American Dental Association, 2004 at www.ada.org.)
• Tobacco juice causes cancer of the esophagus, pharynx, larynx, stomach and pancreas. These cancers can form within five years of regular use. (S.T.O.P. Guide, 1997; Hatsukami, D. & H Severson, Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 1999.)
• Spit/chew tobacco is not a safe alternative to smoking.

Call to Action:

• We are calling on the State Fair Director to immediately sever the relationship with USSTC and adopt a written policy that prohibits sponsorship, exhibits and any other involvement by all tobacco companies at the State Fair.
• Sign a petition in support of this call to action by visiting http://www.PetitionOnline.com/rc05/petition.html

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