I am Payton Binion and I am an upcoming junior at Cuba High School. I have been in Evolvement for just under a year, along with the leadership team. 

24/7 is a campaign within Evolvement that advocates for 100% tobacco free schools. Currently, there are only 16 school districts that have adapted the 100% comprehensive tobacco free policy and I want to help increase that number. I will only have 2 years in Evolvement so in that time I want to help make as much change as possible. 

I want to plan and participate in as many events as possible. I also want to reach out to my community and local businesses because even though my school district has adopted this policy I don’t see much change within our students and there is still more to do. 

I’ve seen many of my friends and other peers use tobacco and nicotine products on campus and during school wide events. As many of you know, using these products can lead to cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, as well as diabetes. 90% of all nicotine addicts have started smoking before the age of 18 which means our youth is more likely to die earlier than anticipated. This should worry more people than it is. Which is why you should care about our cause. Change should start now, not “soon”.

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