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School Swat Teams Kick Tobacco's Butt

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 26, 2009

TAMPA - The traffic and long light cycle at Dale Mabry Highway and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard made it a savvy place for students to take their anti-smoking message Wednesday.

Twenty-two students from Hillsborough and Pinellas counties' schools gathered at the Cancer Survivors Plaza at Al Lopez Park for a rally as part of the national Kick Butts Day sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

They waved signs with anti-smoking messages and encouraged motorists to honk in support.

They were part of their school Swat clubs - Students Working Against Tobacco.

"We're not there to be obnoxious but to cause awareness that Big Tobacco are marketing to youth," said Laurie Ellston, Hillsborough County's Swat coordinator.

Twenty-two Hillsborough public schools participate in Swat. Besides the rally, students from Gaither High School this week drew 88 outlines of bodies in chalk to symbolize the number of Floridians estimated to die daily from tobacco use. They hung banners in the school and spelled out "Big Tobacco Kills" in red plastic cups stuck on a chain-link fence by the student parking lot.

Courtney Cairns Pastor and Julie Busch

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