The most inspirational speaker in my estimation was Atherton Martin, an activist from Dominica. Mr. Martin is an environmental activist, and brought lessons from other movements, those to stop large industries like copper mining and whaling from desecrating his homeland. He uses these principles in fighting the large, powerful, corporate influences which have set upon the world's poorest communities and spread disease and death like viruses through the likes of violence, tobacco, and drugs. These and other facts bring it back to me that the long, slow attack on the Tobacco Industry has been working. College students are becoming victims, and interventions are needed before young adults enter their college years.
College students perceive that almost all of their peers smoke.
The majority of college students had smoked a cigarette in the last 30 days, and perceive themselves as casual smokers. While most had tried smoking before age 19, most weren't regular smokers prior to that. People from all over the globe attended this session, and the networking was invaluable. The facilitators handed out a notebook full of valuable information which I'll be glad to share. My contact information is at the end of this article.