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The American Legacy Group, an organization that aims to help individuals quit smoking, came to Baruch to inform students about the effects of smoking. The Undergraduate Student Government hosted the event on Thursday, October 23.

“Cigarettes are the only product to kill its consumers,” said Teresa Relucio, a representative from the group. “When you smoke a cigarette it will kill you.”

She backed her statement with a statistic that one in three persons die from smoking. Another statistic found that 1,200 people die per day and 40,000 die per year due to tobacco related illneses.

Since the 1950s, studies have been carried out on smoking and its negative effects. Relucio cited a 1958 memo from Philip Morris that admitted that the company found a link between heavy cigarette smoking and lung cancer.

“Studies confirm the relationships between smoking and cancer,” said Relucio as she referred to a 1953 study.

In the past, cigarette companies advertised their products using media such as radio, television, newspapers and billboards. Today, cigarette companies are not allowed to advertise on television or radio. However, they still spend $11.22 billion dollars per year on marketing to consumers.

Relucio noted that cigarette companies target teens as their audience to be “replacement smokers.”

“Teens are in the market longer,” said Relucio.

She pointed out that nine out of 10 smokers started smoking before they were 18 years old. Every day 5,000 youths try a cigarette for the first time and 2,000 of them become addicts in the future,” she said.

According to Relucio, tobacco companies try to improve their image by paying for ad campaigns that will discourage young smokers. The “Tobacco is whacko” campaign was sponsored by Lorilland, a tobacco company.

The presentation featured other marketing ploys from cigarette companies, such as portraying beautiful and healthy people smoking.

“I think this was a success,” said Relucio. “Those who came, came because they wanted to.”

“I think this meeting went well,” said Erica Soto, a USG Upper Senator. “Considering that there were many events going on, I would like to thank those who came. It was very informative and we would like to have [Legacy] back soon.”

For more information on Legacy, students can refer to http://www.thetruth.org, www.quitnet.org and http://www.streetheory.org.

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