R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company believes that children should not smoke. As a responsible manufacturer and marketer of adult products, the company makes every effort to ensure that all its actions are guided by this basic belief.

The risk of contracting certain diseases, such as lung cancer and heart disease, is higher for those who smoke than for those who don’t smoke. Young people don’t have the maturity to make a judgment about those risks. In addition, many people find that once they have started smoking cigarettes, it can be difficult to quit. In fact, many characterize smoking as “addictive.” In addition, it is illegal in all 50 states to sell cigarettes to minors, and rightly so.

The major issues regarding underage smoking and cigarette marketing have been addressed by the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) signed November 23, 1998 by the major U.S. tobacco companies and 46 states. (The provisions of that settlement were similar to those in individual settlements previously reached with the other four states -- Florida, Minnesota, Mississippi and Texas.) Over the next 25 years, the states will be provided with up to $246 billion, which can be used to design local solutions to address underage smoking and to enforce the settlement’s new rules and restrictions on cigarette marketing. The settlement creates a major, multifaceted initiative to reduce youth smoking in the United States, with more resources than ever before available for youth non-smoking programs.

RJR funds programs to supplement other youth non-smoking efforts in school, at retail, and in the home. Our programs were developed with guidance from child educators, psychologists and retailers. The programs reflect the many studies that show the key factors affecting youth smoking are the influence of peers and family, and that restricting accessibility to cigarettes helps reduce youth smoking. Therefore, our programs are designed to reach middle and junior-high school students, retailers, and parents who wish to talk to their children about not smoking.

You can see samples of RJR’s youth non-smoking programs by going to the "Right Decisions, Right Now" website: rightdecisionsrightnow.com

RJR launched a school-based program called "Right Decisions, Right Now" in 1991. Through this program, RJR provides free materials to middle schools and junior high schools each year as additional tools in their ongoing efforts to address the important issue of making good decisions -- even when peer pressure or example might encourage a different decision. The core materials are wall posters and curriculum units. The materials are currently being provided to approximately 94% of the middle and junior high schools in the United States.

The wall posters address the unfortunate fact that one reason young people smoke is a misguided belief that smoking can somehow enhance their image. These posters are designed to challenge that belief. They include messages such as, "Your Big Ideas About Smoking Are Smaller Than You Think," or "If You Think Smoking Makes You Fit In, Think Again." The posters are designed for placement in classrooms, counselors' offices and hallways.

The curriculum series is designed to teach young people how to make appropriate lifestyle decisions regarding smoking, drinking, etc. The materials, developed by independent experts at Lifetime Learning Systems, Inc., include a teacher’s guide, student activity sheets, and a discussion poster. Materials have been produced on Decision Skills, Assessing Consequences of Decisions, Refusal Techniques, Values, Conflict Resolution, and Responsibility.

In addition to the ongoing school program, periodic special programs have been implemented to reach a wider audience of young people. For example…

R. J. Reynolds makes available three brochures to help parents talk with their children. The brochure "Tobacco: Helping Your Child Say No" was developed to help parents discourage their children from smoking and help them make appropriate decisions in other lifestyle choices. RJR also has a brochure specifically for parents who smoke, called "How To Talk To Your Kids About Not Smoking Even If You Do."

A third brochure, "Choices: Helping Your Child Make The Right Ones," is a parents' guide to reducing the risk of negative behavior in adolescence. The focus of this brochure is on reducing adolescent "risk factors" associated with negative behaviors (including smoking) and enhancing "protective factors" associated with positive behaviors.

These brochures have been made available through an 800 number, and offered on billboards and in magazine ads, as well as in all materials that describe the program. In the fall of 1998, these brochures were mailed to all guidance counselors in middle and junior high schools that are receiving the "Right Decisions, Right Now" posters and study guides. The brochures were also made available to pediatricians across the United States. Response has been favorable, with requests for additional brochures.

RJR developed a comprehensive retail access control program in 1992 called "Support the Law...It Works," to help retailers and their employees comply with the minimum-age laws. Then, in 1995 RJR joined the Coalition for Responsible Tobacco Retailing, a coalition comprising every major retailer organization in America and key cigarette and smokeless tobacco manufacturers to introduce the "We Card" program. "We Card" provides an even wider range of retail signage and teaching tools than "Support the Law," which was discontinued.

As of March 1999, over 500,000 retailer kits had been distributed, and the materials are in retail stores throughout the United States. Eight governors and four state Attorneys General support the program. The "We Card" program has received the endorsement of the National Association of Police Organizations. The U. S. Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) also endorsed the "We Card" materials.