DON’T BUY THE LIE PROGRAM CELEBRATES 15 YEARS OF BRINGING
POWERFUL ANTI-TOBACCO MESSAGES TO LOCAL TEENS

More than 100,000 Sacramento area students to learn dangers of tobacco;
Two will see their winning ad designs on billboards across the region

SACRAMENTO, CA — Kaiser Permanente is celebrating the 15th anniversary of its popular Don’t Buy the Lie program, which delivers a free anti-smoking educational campaign to more than 100,000 local middle and high school students annually, and offers teens the chance to design counter-tobacco ads for display on approximately 30 billboards throughout the Greater Sacramento area each spring.

The Don't Buy the Lie program includes free educational materials — distributed to approximately 145 schools in Sacramento, Placer and Yolo counties — that teach teens about the perils of smoking and industry tricks to get them hooked. It also includes a popular billboard design contest, which has been going strong since 1994.

“It’s hard to believe that some of our very first billboard design contest winners are now nearing their 30s,” said Christa Ognissanti, a Kaiser Permanente health educator from Sacramento who has been involved in the program since its inception. “This program continues to educate thousands of students on the dangers of smoking and we’re really proud to have been delivering this powerful message for 15 years.”

More than 7,000 students entered last year’s Don’t Buy the Lie billboard design contest, which includes a grand-prize middle and high school winner. Last year’s contest was won by Kenya Bravo, a senior from Sheldon High School in the Elk Grove Unified School District, and Summer Elliot, an 8th-grader from Andrew Carnegie Middle School in Orangevale.

Thousands more attended a riveting talk, entitled "Inside the Darkside," presented by Dr. Victor DeNoble, a former research scientist from Philip Morris who was protected by the U.S. government while testifying against the tobacco industry in the 1990s.

Dr. DeNoble, who has been with the program for the last 13 consecutive years, returns the first week of February to help kick off this year’s program, promote the billboard design contest and to speak at dozens of assemblies over a three-week tour at area schools.

Billboard contest entry forms have been distributed to middle and high schools throughout the Greater Sacramento area and are also available at www.kpdontbuythelie.org. The contest deadline is March 7, 2008.

In addition to having their ad concepts displayed on local billboards beginning in May, two grand-prize winners will also receive a $1,000 savings bond. Runner-up winners will receive $50 savings bonds.

Anti-tobacco programs like Don’t Buy the Lie — combined with other initiatives such as youth access laws, smoke-free environments and higher tobacco taxes — are having an impact. According to the California Department of Public Health, fewer teens smoke in California than almost anywhere else in the nation.

In 2006, for example, the smoking rate among California middle school students was 6 percent, compared to the national average of 8 percent. The California high school student smoking rate for the same year was 15 percent, compared to 23 percent nationally. And while California’s increase in youth smoking is consistent with recent national trends, the percentage of California youth who smoke is still far below the national average.

Tobacco use primarily begins in early adolescence. According to the American Lung Association, one-third of all smokers had their first cigarette by the age of 14, and 90 percent of all smokers begin before the age of 21.

“Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States,” said Rick Baker, MD, a Kaiser Permanente pediatrician in Davis and chief of health education. "If we can help prevent young people from using tobacco products early on, we have a good chance of keeping them tobacco-free throughout their lifetimes and helping them to live healthier lives."

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Kaiser Permanente is the nation’s largest not-for-profit health care organization and serves more than 652,000 members in Greater Sacramento. Approximately 11,100 employees and more than 1,100 physicians provide medical care and service to Greater Sacramento members.