Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Honors Morgan Wittman of Durham, NC as Youth Advocate...

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Honors Morgan Wittman of Durham, NC as Youth
Advocate of the Year

-Leadership in Fight Against Tobacco Recognized Nationally-

WASHINGTON, May 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --Morgan Wittman, 18, of Durham has
been named the International Regional Youth Advocate of the Year by the
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids for her leadership in the fight against
tobacco. Morgan is being honored at a gala in the nation's capital on May 20
along with a national winner, international grant winner, three other regional
winners and a group winner.

Morgan, a senior at Jordan High School, is an active advocate at the local,
state, national and international levels. She has educated peers in North
Carolina, worked to pass statewide tobacco-free schools legislation and urged
members of Congress to support legislation that would give the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate tobacco products.

Last October, Morgan was selected to represent American youth as part of an
international coalition, Youth for Health, that presented 250,000 signatures
of youth from around the world to United Nations Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon. The petition dealt with several aspects of health including tobacco
use. Since then, Morgan has been working with members of HRIDAY-SHAN, an
organization in India, to further their action plan and keep youth around the
world working on tobacco control issues. Morgan will be traveling to
Guatemala this summer to work on smoke-free air issues.

More than 400 public health, political, civic and business leaders will attend
the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' twelfth annual anniversary gala in
Washington, D.C., to recognize these young leaders. The winners will receive
educational scholarships and grants to continue their prevention efforts and
serve as ambassadors for the Campaign.

"Morgan Wittman and other young leaders from across the nation are making
great strides against youth tobacco addiction and their voices are being
heard," said Matthew L. Myers, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids president.
"Every day, 1,000 kids in the United States become regular smokers and
one-third of them will die prematurely from tobacco-caused disease. Almost 90
percent of adult smokers began at or before the age of 18. Youth are powerful
allies in the fight to turn these trends around."

In North Carolina, over 19 percent of high school students smoke, and 13,800
kids become daily smokers every year. Every year, tobacco use kills 11,900
residents and costs the state over $2 billion in health care bills.
Nationally, tobacco use kills more than 400,000 people and costs the nation
more than $96 billion in health care costs each year.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is a leader in the fight to reduce tobacco
use and its devastating consequences in the United States and around the
world. By changing public attitudes and public policies on tobacco, the
Campaign strives to prevent kids from smoking, help smokers quit and protect
everyone from secondhand smoke.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Nicole Dueffert of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, +1-202-296-5469