To combat the $42 million a day tobacco companies spend to market their product and the 1,200 people that die each day from tobacco or second-hand smoke, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, celebrated its twelfth annual Kick Butts Day.

Kick Butts Day is a campaign to promote youth advocacy, leadership and activism. According to its website, Kick Butts Day

"is a day to stand out, speak up and seize control in the fight against tobacco. It is an important opportunity to raise awareness about the tobacco problem and support strong tobacco prevention policies.This year, Kick Butts Day is raising awareness about the thousands of chemicals in each puff of cigarette smoke and the need for elected officials at all levels to step up the fight to reduce smoking and other tobacco use."

While more than 2,000 events are planned across the nation, that is just not enough. If each event attracts 500 kids, that is only a start compared to the 674,242 kids that became regular smokers in 2006 as reported on the website. The website also notes that tobacco use kills more than 400,000 people and costs more than $96 billion in health care bills each year, and that 23 percent of high school students smoke. 

According to the website whatareyousmoking.org, cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, including at least 69 that cause cancer and many more that are hazardous. Cigarette smoke includes the dangerous chemicals such as arsenic (used in rat poison, causes cancer in humans), ammonia (used in household cleaners, can irritate the respiratory tract and elevate blood pressure), formaldehyde (used to embalm bodies, causes nasal cancer and can damage the lungs, skin and digestive system), and polonium 210 (a highly radioactive element that causes cancer). However, a new poll released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids finds that most Americans are not aware of the dangerous chemicals in cigarettes and cigarette smoke. The poll, conducted March 7-11, found that 71 percent of adults and 79 percent of teens could not name any of the chemicals found in cigarette smoke, other than tar and nicotine.

Kick Butts Day tries to counteract the effect that the record spending of the tobacco industry to market its products has on kids. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the tobacco companies spend more than $15.4 billion a year to market their products in the U.S. One day may not be enough to win the war but if it helps prevent some kids from getting sucked into the trap of smoking, it is worth our attention, focus and support.