What is Voice?

VOICE is a tobacco prevention education program that teaches junior high and high school age students about the harms of tobacco use and the marketing ploys of Big Tobacco companies. Our goal is to help students find their voice to talk to their peers, family, and community about healthy living through being tobacco-free.

S.W.A.T. (Students Working Against Tobacco) – a college version of Voice that was established as an official I.U. East organization in 2007. The purpose of SWAT is to educate youth, the campus community, and the Wayne County community about tobacco related issues; to promote smoke-free businesses and workplaces; and to promote the Indiana 1-800QuitLine.

Scary Facts about Tobacco

• Tobacco kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined.
• Tobacco related illnesses kill 28 Hoosiers every day or 10,300 every year.
• More than 6,000 children die each year in the United States because their parents smoke!
• Tobacco companies spend more that $12.4 billion per year – over $34.1 million a day marketing to teenagers in the US alone. ($550/student per year)
• Tobacco companies make $1.8 billion annually from under age sales.
• 90% of all smokers started smoking by the time they were 18 years old!
• 2,000 teens get hooked on cigarettes every day creating approximately 750,000 new daily smokers each year.
• Careful research has found that non-smoking teens whose favorite stars frequently smoke on screen are 16 times more likely to have positive attitudes towards smoking in the future.