Better youth tobacco prevention program

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co has improved its tobacco prevention program aimed at young people.

In a note posted on its website, the company said that its free, evidence-based youth tobacco prevention program, Right Decisions Right Now: Be Tobacco Free (RDRN), now offered more website features, including Spanish-language posters and parent brochures, smart board activities, improved navigation and optimized videos for easier downloading.

‘RDRN educational materials – readily available via computers and smart boards – are used to teach middle-school students about the risks of using tobacco products,’ it said. ‘The program is designed to empower students to make good decisions, including the decision not to use tobacco, and to give them the knowledge to live a healthy lifestyle.

‘More than 20,000 middle schools across the country have used the RDRN program since it was independently developed more than 20 years ago. The program is also used by community groups such as Boy Scouts of America; Big Brothers, Big Sisters; and the Crosby Scholars Program.’

The note quoted Laura Leigh Oyler, a public-policy director involved in R.J. Reynolds’ youth tobacco prevention efforts, as saying that the improvements to RDRN made the program more user-friendly for the modern classroom and beyond. “RDRN is part of our company’s long-term initiative to transform the tobacco industry,” she said. “Over the past 20 years, youth tobacco prevention efforts and programs have had a big impact on reducing teen smoking, now at a historic low, and we are actively working on ways to accelerate the decline in youth tobacco use.”