22 N. Georgia Ave.  Suite 300  .  Mason City, IA 50401  .  Phone: 641-421-9300  .  Toll Free: 1-888-264-2581  .  Fax: 641-421-9350

 

 

 

1-800-QUIT NOW
For Iowans with out of state cell
phone numbers: 1-877-471-2107


 

 
     Health Promotion and Education


"The ability to attract new smokers and develop them into a young adult franchise is key to brand development."
~ 1999 Philip Morris report

What is JEL? It stands for Just Eliminate Lies. What does it mean? JEL is a public awareness effort to educate our young people about the lies being fed to them by large tobacco companies, which claim they are not trying to entice children to use tobacco products.

Check out our JEL photo page!

If that's true, then why do the tobacco companies invest so much time and money into making products that are fruit flavored?

So why come together and fight the tobacco industry? It's simple.

  • The tobacco industry spends $115.1 million a year in Iowa trying to seduce youth into trying their product.

  • The tobacco industry tries to attract young smokers to replace their dead and dying customer.

  • 12, 000 Iowa youth will begin to smoke this year and 9,400 will become new daily smokers.

  • 80,000 Iowa youth under age 18 now will ultimately die prematurely from smoking.

Aren't there worse problems in society than smoking? Compare smoking to AIDS. AIDS is a serious problem in our society. The media calls it an "epidemic". Roughly 17,000 people lose their lives to AIDS in the U.S. each year. In comparison, more than 400,000 people are expected to die of smoking-related causes this year alone. But do you hear the media calling smoking deaths an "epidemic"? The fact is, smoking kills more Americans every year than AIDS, car accidents, murders and suicides combined. The problem is, so few people realize the magnitude of this thing.

Smoking is the #1 preventable cause of death in the United States. Here in Cerro Gordo County, we developed our own JEL chapter, modeled after the Iowa JEL campaign through the Iowa Department of Public Health. Youth in Cerro Gordo County have eagerly participated in two JEL Youth Rallies.

Check out the state JEL web page: http://www.jeliowa.org/

 

 
© 2004 • Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health