4th ANNUAL YOUTH TOBACCO CONTROL
ADVOCACY TRAINING
April 25-26, 2006

Dover Youth 2 Youth (New Hampshire) kicked off the training with an excellent multimedia presentation detailing Philip Morris' "History of Lies." Joel Dunnington, a longtime tobacco control activist based in Texas, then gave an entertaining and informative overview of the history of activism against Philip Morris, including how activists succeeded in halting Philip Morris's infamous "Bill of Rights" tour.

Next up were a series of short presentations related to "What Philip Morris is Up to Around the World." Shane Bradbrook and Skye Te Rangi Kimura (Te Reo Marama/Mäori Smokefree Coalition, New Zealand) detailed how Philip Morris misappropriated the Maori name and culture when it launched a "Maori Mix" line of its L&M cigarette brand in Israel at the end of last year. Youth with the Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program then gave a superb presentation, based on blogs, websites, and internal tobacco industry documents, on Marlboro's "Crazy Ranch" in Montana. Reality Check (New York) coordinators then described activism that New York youth did around Philip Morris' celebration of Marlboro's 50th Anniversary last November. Nicole Sutton (REAL/Hawaii) and Anna White (Essential Action/DC) shared photos of Philip Morris promotions in Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, from a delegation to South America last August. Examples submitted by advocates in Romania, India, Hong Kong, Jordan, Romania, Vietnam, & more rounded out the presentation. Check out the world tour!

The remainder of Tuesday's training focused on advocacy skill-building workshops, e.g. working with the media, making effective visuals, event coordination, developing chants, creating zines, and preparations for those going into the Altria shareholder meeting. Wednesday morning, the training continued in New York City, culminating with a large role play.

Check out photos of the training: East Hanover, NJ; New York City, NY