Doing Good - NWA Tobacco Free Coalition
By: Jonathan Martinez
Updated: November 13, 2012
For more than a decade the Northwest Arkansas Tobacco Free Coalition has worked to spread awareness about the dangers of lighting up.
"It's cost our state $812 million to treat tobacco related illnesses," said
Jamie Thornton of Northwest Arkansas Tobacco-Free Coalition. 'It one of the hardest things to quit second only to meth."
Members of the group regularly go out into the community and to schools to help raise awareness.
In addition to showing graphic pictures of the damage smoking can cause the body the group also explains it.
Thornton said, "If you have emphysema it's like trying to breathe through a coffee straw all the time 24 hours a day.
Their message is not only for smokers, but also those around people who smoke.
"Most do not know that secondhand smoke is just as dangerous as radon has assessed this EPA classifies them all the thing," said Thornton. "With more policy to help make it harder for people to smoke a better our community will be as whole."
