CTFM and SWAT Welsom Patrick Reynolds

Oct 27th, 2003

The Coalition for a Tobacco Free Mobile and S.W.A.T. (Students Working Against Tobacco) welcomes Patrick Reynolds, the grandson of tobacco magnate R. J. Reynolds - who founded one of the nation’s leading cigarette manufacturers, to Murphy High School. R.J.Reynolds Tobacco Holding is the second largest tobacco company in the United States. Reynolds will speak to students at Murphy High School on Thursday, October 30 in the school’s auditorium. The meeting is open to the public and is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

Patrick Reynolds is the Executive Director of The Foundation for a Smokefree America. The foundation is a non-profit organization with a mission to motivate youth to stay tobacco free and to empower and help smokers to quit successfully. Reynolds' lecture "The Truth About Tobacco" is a multimedia presentation focusing on the dangers of peer pressure and the perception of smoking in mass media. He challenges students to drop the habit by creating new lifestyle perspectives.

Reynolds will also share his personal testimony of what led him from being a pack a day smoker to the nations leading anti-smoking advocate. "My dad died from emphysema, caused by smoking cigarettes that made our family wealthy," stated Reynolds. Reynolds has also witnessed his older brother and other relatives die from cigarette induced emphysema and lung cancer. He adds, "That's largely why I decided to turn my back on my family's tobacco business, and why I'm devoting my life to the anti-smoking cause, and to educating our young people about cigarettes and smoking. That's why I founded The Foundation for a Smokefree America."

Mr. Reynolds testified numerous times before the U.S. Congress and in 1989 launched The Foundation for a Smokefree America. To learn more about the Foundation for a Smokefree America visit www.antismoking.com. For information about the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Mobile and SWAT please contact the Tobacco Prevention and Control Coordinator, Ashley Bertagnolli at 690-8824.