Today is &uot;Kick Butts Day,&uot; an initiative which gives kids center stage in the fight against tobacco.

More than 1,500 events are planned in all 50 states. In the area, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva students are taking part by planning a wall of remembrance by those whose lives have been affected by tobacco.

Kids are sending two powerful messages with Kick Butts Day: they want the tobacco industry to stop targeting them with advertising and they want elected leaders to do more to protect them from tobacco.

On Kick Butts Day, kids are standing up against the tobacco companies. It’s important that elected officials stand with them by supporting proven tobacco prevention measures. States can prevent kids from smoking and protect everyone from the toxic substances in secondhand smoke by properly funding tobacco prevention programs and enacting smoke-free workplace policies. In turn, these solutions reduce smoking, save lives and save money by reducing smoking-caused health care costs.

In Minnesota, 23.9 percent of high school students smoke, and 13,100 kids become daily smokers every year. Every year, tobacco use kills 5,600 residents and costs the state $1.61 billion in health care bills.

This year, Kick Butts Day comes as the tobacco industry is spending record amounts to market its products. Since promising to stop targeting kids as part of the 1993 state tobacco settlement, the tobacco companies have actually increased their marketing by 66 percent, according to the Federal Trade Commission. In 2001, the most recent year for which data has been released, the tobacco companies spent $11.5 billion on marketing nationwide.

In Minnesota, tobacco companies spend $196.7 million a year to market their products, which amounts to nine times the $20.4 million that the state spends on tobacco prevention programs.

Since young people respond to peer pressure, an initiative like Kick Butts Day is a logical step to helping keep young people tobacco free. We applaud their efforts.