Tobacco Prevention

The Northern Kentucky Youth Foundation is working to address youth smoking in the region. Through health education and advocacy, we are raising awareness among Northern Kentucky residents about the dangers of youth’s access and use of tobacco products. In addition, the Northern Kentucky Youth Foundation is training tobacco retailers about the legal and health impact of selling tobacco products to minors.

Young smokers have strong addictions to nicotine, a drug found in tobacco products. Those smokers that start as youth will lose an average of 13 to 14 years off their life. Tobacco’s toxic ingredients make all smokers at risk for cancers, lung diseases, heart disease, Diabetes (‘Sugar’), Stroke and even Osteoporosis.

In order to protect our youth from harm, community members and tobacco retailers have a legal obligation to follow the law in KY. Youth should not continue to have access to purchase any tobacco products. Unfortunately, kids know which places will illegally sell to them. Tobacco is sold at pharmacies, carry-out restaurants, liquor stores, gas stations and in convenience stores. To address the problem of retailers selling to youth, we are training selected retailers of tobacco laws and health risks for youth. We ask all trained retailers to teach their business communities.

Through our work to prevent cancer and protect youth, we provide education and information to diverse communities across Northern Kentucky. Our goal is to increase awareness and community knowledge about the harms of smoking. Our community partnerships with neighborhood organizations, faith-based organizations and long-time non-profits in KY allow us to teach residents across Northern Kentucky. Our conversations with communities are truly informative, realistic and non-judgmental. We aim to provide resources and education to the community to improve the health status of our youngest Northern Kentucky residents.

In addition to educating tobacco retailers, the Northern Kentucky Youth Foundation is interested in seeing more schools develop tobacco free campuses, eventually turning them into a 24/7 tobacco free place for the health betterment of students, teachers and the general public.

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