Seattle: Protect Our Kids. Get Tobacco Out of Baseball!

Smokeless tobacco use harms health, leading to nicotine addiction and increasing the risk of cancer and other diseases. When Major League Baseball players use tobacco on the field – on the job, in public – it has even broader ramifications: Millions of kids look up to them and follow their lead. But we can stop this cycle in our city.

Right now, the King County Board of Health is considering an ordinance to take tobacco out of all sports venues, including Safeco Field. And they need to know that we support it.

We're tired of seeing the consequences of the close connection between tobacco and America's pastime: Even as cigarette use continues to decline among youth, smokeless tobacco use has remained troublingly steady. It's used by 8.3% of high school boys. And every day, more than 1,000 kids age 12-17 use it for the first time.

What players do in their personal lives is their own business, but using tobacco while millions of kids are watching is another matter. America's pastime should be about promoting a healthy and active lifestyle – not a deadly and addictive product.

As the baseball season gets underway, Seattle and King County have the opportunity to set the right example for kids by prohibiting all tobacco use at Safeco Field and other sports venues in the county. Tell the Board of Health to take tobacco out of baseball.
Dear [Decisionmaker],

For the sake of the millions of kids who look up to Major League Baseball players, I'm asking you to support prohibiting tobacco use in King County baseball venues and other athletic fields during organized play.

The reasons are simple:

Smokeless tobacco use harms health, leading to nicotine addiction and increasing the risk of cancer and other diseases. When professional athletes use tobacco on the field – on the job, in public – it has even broader ramifications.

Athletes are role models for our youth. Baseball players' use of smokeless tobacco reinforces the tobacco industry's message to young boys that they can't be real men unless they use tobacco. And we see the consequences: Even as cigarette use continues to decline among youth, smokeless tobacco remains troublingly steady. In 2016, 8.3 percent of high school boys reported current use of smokeless tobacco. And every day, more than 1,000 kids age 12-17 use it for the first time.

King County has an opportunity stand up and protect our kids by prohibiting the use of tobacco products at professional stadiums and athletic fields in King County, including Safeco Field. Please support the ordinance to do that.
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