To the Editor:

Once a year, on April Fool’s Day, people fool each other with harmless pranks. Everyday, however, the tobacco industry fools young people into trying products that cause harm, because their business depends on it.

This year on April 1, as a member of the Capital District Reality Check program, I participated in Take Down Tobacco National Day of Action to tell the tobacco industry that we won’t be fooled any longer.

Sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the day invites concerned citizens to stand up and speak out against the tobacco industry. Our local program joined forces with partners in our state and across the nation in order to raise awareness about the problem of tobacco marketing in our communities.

Tobacco companies try to attract youth with brightly-colored packaging, sweet flavors, and inexpensive products, often selling them in stores near schools, parks, and playgrounds. The more youth see tobacco marketing the more likely they are to start smoking.  

I am proud to stand with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and thousands of youth across the country to say we’ve seen enough flavored tobacco products and tobacco marketing in our communities. We won’t be fooled by Big Tobacco today or any other day of the year.

To learn more about Take Down Tobacco National Day of Action, please visit: www.takedowntobacco.org

Senbahavalli Ramasamy

Guilderland

Editor’s note: Senbahavalli Ramasamy is a junior at Guilderland High School and a Reality Check Teen Program Member.