#middle school assembly program

Tobacco is a truly important global issue: one out of three people worldwide are currently addicted. As a result, in coming decades smoking may kill one billion people in this century, according to the UN World Health Organization.

Tobacco Wars! The Battle for a Tobacco free Society educates and inspires college students, community members and health conference attendees.

This speaker reaches the hearts and minds of his audiences. Patrick Reynolds opens with stories about the RJ Reynolds family, by turns colorful, humorous and moving. He speaks vividly and movingly about his memories his father's and eldest brother's deaths from smoking, and then switches gears and offers a report card on tobacco control for the State he is in.

He'll compare your State to the rest of the nation in four areas: current State tobacco taxes, State spending this year on youth smoking prevention, spending on cessation, and your State's current laws limiting smoking in restaurants, bars and other workplaces. Finally, he'll suggest what can be done to bring about change.

Mr. Reynolds will also offer his insightful perspective on the influence of the tobacco lobby on Congress, the UN World Health Organization's Global Treaty on Tobacco Control, ratified by 170 nations as of June, 2011, the new FDA law to regulate tobacco, and the cutting of highly successful tobacco prevention school assembly programs by most States.

He'll provide the current number of States which have passed strong Statewide 100% smoking bans (as of 28 June, 2011).

Time permitting, Patrick will include a powerful section from his talk for grades six through twelve: he'll recount the moving and powerful story of Sean Marsee, a young track star who died at 19 from chewing tobacco. He'll illustrate that story with shocking before and after Power Point slides and videos

On America’s poly-addictions: cigarettes, food, alcohol, drugs, music, movies, TV – even work Why are so many of us are addicted to one or more of these? The answer is simple: we seek to avoid our pain. When we change our mood with diversions like these, we numb out, shut down and shut out our pain – and we do nothing to solve the problem causing it.

The solution: in difficult moments, avoid substances and other diversions. Stay with the problem. Think about what’s causing your difficulty, try to clearly identify it and be aware of it. Next, talk about it to others. It’s by talking about our problems that we can best solve them, and begin to heal.

Stay with what’s bothering you, talk to a trusted friend, family member or mentor, and then take a step to solve your problem. Taking even a small first step is important.

In short, when life’s problems arise, and they most certainly will, don’t alter your mood with smoking, alcohol, drugs, music, or working too hard. Tough it out, and do the work at hand – to stay with the hard moment, and talk to someone about it.

Life is not meant to be easy. It’s difficult by design. By our personal struggles, we build and define our character. Dealing with life’s obstacles and failures empowers each of us to become stronger, and to reach our full potential as adult men and women. And – you can do it!