Editors: Jan Peloza, Veronika Jelen Authors: Nick Schneider, Helena Koprivnikar, Jan Peloza, Veronika Jelen, Nina Rogelj, Filip Maslo, Nika Glavina, Patricia Krebelj Special thanks to: Mojca Bizjak, Manca Kozlovič and Arlen Šegula Design: Julia Hentz Design of the ETYC logo: Tamara Mihalić Photos: www.noexcuse.si Issued by: No Excuse Slovenia, Celovška cesta 185, 1000 Ljubljana Printed by: Infokart d.o.o., Mencingerjeva ulica 7, 1000 Ljubljana
750 copies are printed on recycled paper December 2013 Not for sale
Table of contents  1. Introduction
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2. Why is tobacco a problem? 8 3. What is ETYC?
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4. Why to act in the youth sector? 14 5. Presentations of examples of youth activation on the tobacco field 19 6. Results
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7. How to go on?
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8. Youth Network No Excuse Slovenia 30 MEP letter
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1. Introduction A common ground to start from - from the EU Help Campaign to European Tobacco Youth Network
At the 1st European Tobacco Youth Conference around 80 youth representatives from 20 European countries met to reassure youth’s commitment for a life without tobacco. On local level European youth have been active for a long time, but in the last years it lacked the European visibility it had during the EU Help Campaign between 2005 and 2010. The EU Help campaign was the biggest awareness raising campaign in Europe tackling smoking prevention, cessation and exposure to tobacco smoke. To empower youth in tobacco control and to have the voice of youth heard in EU policy making, the campaign increasingly involved youths and youth organisations in its activities. In 2005-2006 the European Commission and European Youth Forum developed the European Youth Manifesto on Tobacco. Over 10.000 young people participated in the process and 200 delegates from 25 EU member states adopted the document entitled “Youth: For a Life without Tobacco!” which was widely circulated to ministries and through press conferences in all EU member states. In 2008 the German Cancer Research Center and the European Commission established an informal youth network to coordinate youth participation in the EU Help-campaign, to build a transdisciplinary tobacco control network by students for students and to establish peer-led capacity building for students in Europe. In May 2009, 87 delegates from 59 youth organisations participated in the EC Help Student Network Meeting in Riga and adopted the “Youth Declaration on Tobacco Control”. Building on this declaration, 69 youth delegates representing 54 youth organisations developed a “Commitment Paper”, in which they committed themselves to create a youth network and remain active in tobacco control. In addition to the network activities, technical support and funding were provided to projects ran by youth organisations. In 2009 a total of one transnational and 5
fifteen national youth project were coordinated in thirteen EU member states. In 2010, already four transnational and twentyfour national youth projects were coordinated in twenty-four EU member states. If this trend would have continued, nowadays all EU member states might probably have a working youth tobacco control infrastructure, but it didn’t. A new leadership came in and with it also new priorities. Instead of youth, the young adult smokers became the new big thing in Brussels, from which a campaign called „Ex Smokers are Unstoppable“ were launched. The lack of foresight and sustainability led to an early end of promising and cost-effective project. Without EU funding the network collapsed, but not totally. It took the courage of few youth activists from Slovenia to reactivate the work of the network. Three years after the end of the EU Help Campaign, „No Excuse Slovenia“ dared to reignite the fire. The seeds of European youth activism in tobacco control, planted by the EU and some tobacco control experts started to bloom again. In Izola, youth from across the continent – from Portugal to Turkey and from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia debated what European youth could do to end the tobacco pandemic in Europe. This time it was not a process driven by the EU or some technical experts, but a conference from youth to youth. Besides drafting and sending letter to Members of the European Parliament asking for a strong and effective Tobacco Products Directive, the participants committed themselves to establish a sustainable „European Youth Tobacco Network“. It took one of the newer EU member states to take the initiative. Slovenia has come a long way in tobacco control, and so has its youth. After inspiring leadership in the European Council it is now youth who shows Europe the way. With „No Excuse Slovenia“ at the helm, I trust that European youth tobacco control activism will regain pace and lead to real social change. It is high time that 6
youth make an impact in Brussels and in the EU member states. With local and European support the network will thrive. And thanks to strong youth leadership it can hopefully be sustainable at last! Nick K. Schneider, Human Rights and Tobacco Control Network and former Member of Scientific Advisory Board of the EU Help Campaign
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2. Why is tobacco a problem?
Tobacco smoking is responsible for numerous deaths and extensive suffering due to illnesses it causes. Globally over 5 million people die from diseases related to tobacco every year, in WHO European region almost 1,5 million or over 4.000 every day. Many times it is wrongly assumed that harmful consequences of smoking appear in old age and that only old people die from tobacco related diseases. But many smokers die prematurely, that is before they reach their sixties, or even decades earlier. In WHO European region every day almost 1.100 people die from tobacco related diseases before they reach 60 years of age, almost a third between 30-44 years of age. There is a big number of diseases that are caused by the recent increase of smoking. It is now fifty years from the first report that warned about the health hazards of smoking and a new extensive report was currently published that adds additional diseases to the list of the already known ones. Diabetes, erectile dysfunction, rheumatoid arthritis, changes in immune system function, agerelated macular degeneration, ectopic pregnancy, congenital defects (orofacial clefts due to maternal smoking), colorectal and liver cancer were added to already long and extensive list of diseases caused by smoking which already includes numerous diseases of respiratory tract, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, blindness, cataracts, reduced fertility in women and others. Smoking also has harmful effects on young smokers’ health; some of them begin not so long after the beginning of smoking, like reduced physical performance, cough, new asthma or its aggravation and others. Too many people still smoke tobacco – only in WHO European region, 41% of men and 22% of women smoke. Vast majority of them started to smoke as adolescents. Many of them possibly thought that they would only try smoking once or a few times and later stop without any problem. But the development of addiction can be fast and smoking cessation not so easy. Tobacco products with nice and attractive aromas without harsh tobacco smoke, 9
placed in beautifully designed packaging, are nowadays available to young people and they make smoking even easier and more pleasant then in the past and thus promote experimentation and continuation of smoking. Deaths, diseases and suffering from tobacco are preventable and unnecessary. We know what works, we know which measures are necessary to reduce smoking prevalence and we know its consequences. But there are many barriers to their implementation from lack of political will, intensive tobacco industry lobbying, difference in interests of the most important stakeholder and others. The more of us, actively supporting and advocating necessary tobacco control measures, from all different aspects, the more successful we will have, and the goal of eliminating tobacco related disease, suffering and deaths will be closer to reach. You, young people, have such an important role in achieving the goals of tobacco control – be active, be loud and demand and support the necessary measures, be the role models of nonsmoking and help those who smoke to stop. Helena Koprivnikar, Public Health specialist, Slovenian National Institute for Public Health 
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3. What is ETYC?
Smoking among young people is widespread throughout Europe and the tobacco industry still has ample opportunity for manipulation through a variety of marketing techniques to attract more and more young customers. And this is only one of all the reasons for having led to the organization of the 1st European Youth Conference on Tobacco (ETYC), which took place in Izola, Slovenia between 15th and 21st September 2013. The conference brought together about 80 young people, decisionmakers and experts in the field of tobacco from 18 European countries. In this way we could send a clear message to the public and decision makers that the cooperation between various stakeholders at the time of the adoption of the new European Directive on Tobacco Products is very important. Young people gathered in Izola to gain knowledge and skills for a successful future work in the field of tobacco policy, the implementation of prevention and cessation programs and discussing the deception of the tobacco industry, as well as also focused on the establishment of a new European Tobacco Youth Network. The closing plenary session of the conference took place in the National Council of Republic of Slovenia, where young people’s initiatives were presented, followed by a round table with stakeholders in the field of tobacco policy in Slovenia and broader. It served with interesting information on the adoption of the new European Directive, which was voted on 8th October 2013 in the European Parliament. One of the main products of our work in Izola was a letter to all MEPs of the countries that were present at the Conference. In order to express our support on fast adoption of a strong revision of the European Directive on Tobacco Products, we emphasized that young people must have a say in what is being included in this revision.
Us, young people do have the power and a major potential to influence a social change. All we need is a strong will and belief and everything is possible.
ove m e h t n ETYC o
4. Why to act in the youth sector? (Derived and adapted from Bled Youth Paper, 2012)
Apart from the previously mentioned reasons why to involve young people in decision-making on tobacco policy and development of tobacco-related projects, in the following pages we describe how the youth field works. The youth sector comprises several types of organizations and forms of association. Broadly speaking, organizations can be divided into youth organizations and organizations for youth. Youth organizations We identify the following to be the basic characteristics of youth organizations: 1. The age of members is mostly within the interval defined as youth. Usually the appropriate age structure is determined in the statutes or in other rules of the organization. For example, up to 35 years according to the European Youth Forum. 2. The membership is voluntary. Every individual becomes a member voluntarily and is free to terminate her/his membership. 3. The structure is democratic. The organization functions through democratic mechanisms, which ensure the inclusion of the entire membership. Structures and procedures are usually set down in the organization’s rules of procedure. 4. It works for the benefit of young people. Areas covered by the youth organization correspond to the areas of interest for youth. This can include general youth interests, such as education, employment, etc., or specific interests, which are the basis for the organization’s existence. 15
a) Membership Youth Organizations Membership Youth Organizations allow individual and collective membership; e.g. associations have individual membership, but several associations can join to form unions, federations or networks – in this case we talk about collective membership. Youth Organizations are mostly defined as autonomous, democratic and voluntary associations of young people, which work to enable young people to experience planned and unplanned learning and which enables them to form and express opinions, and to implement activities in line with their interests, culture, world view or political opinion. Legally speaking, a youth organization is an association, federation of associations or an autonomous youth organization in a larger organization, and has at least 90 percent of members up to the age of 291, and at least 70 percent of the leadership between 14 and 29 years of age. According to their level of action, youth organizations can be national (those with units in the majority of regions of the country) and local (those working mainly at the local level). b) Youth Councils Organizations with collective membership, especially youth councils, are often not seen as proper organizations, but as “structures”, because the individuals, active in them, represent an organization rather than “themselves”. Youth Council is an umbrella association of youth organizations and represents the interests of young people and youth organizations.
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1 Lower and upper ages may vary in different European countries. In this situation we take in consideration the Slovenian laws
A youth council can work at the national level (the National Youth Council of Slovenia) or at the local level – as the youth council of a local community. The difference between Youth Council and Collective Youth Organizations is in its public interest – while Collective Youth Organizations work towards their mission (let it be any type of activity, representation or collective action), Youth Councils mostly work for the broader benefit of young people – national or local. Organizations for youth Organizations for youth differ from other membership-based organizations with regard to age limitations and/or the programmatic focus on youth, but can also differ regarding the (non) voluntary character of membership. Other forms of organizations exist in the field of youth work and we can find several organizations that have a sector that is youth driven or works with young people; a special example are youth centres. Youth Centres Youth Centres are different from Youth Organizations in the first three criteria above (youth, voluntary, democratic), but both have one thing in common: working for the benefit of young people. They have no membership and their decision-making structures mostly do not need to be democratic. A youth centre is, as most generally defined, a regularly organized functional centre, with a basic activity of managing the infrastructure designed for youth. It also ensures adequate space and equipment for youth work and adequately trained staff to support youth work.
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There are several ways to include young people in the tobacco-related action, but so far it has been proven in several occurrences that it is easier to reach them through organized structures like youth organisations, organisations for youth and collaboration with schools by introducing non-formal education programs in their curriculum. In this way we will give legitimacy to a number of committed young people who invest their free time mostly voluntarily into better understanding their peers and change in sustaining their attitude and behaviour.  
uth o y t u o ab s i C Y T E h to yout
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5. Presentations of examples of youth activation on the tobacco field
In the following pages we present four projects that caught our attention during the 1st European Tobacco Youth Conference in Izola, Slovenia. Although they are mostly working on the nonformal education and raising awareness field, they can be exposed as good youth activation tools in order to make the young people aware of the consequences of tobacco smoking. In a way, these projects are a good start of our path towards more sustainable and coordinated action on local, national and international level against the biggest pandemic of all times and directly against the immoral tactics of the tobacco industry.
1. Fast Forward
Fast Forward is a Scottish charity founded in 1987 to promote young people’s health.
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In 2013 we developed a new tobacco leaflet designed specifically for young people. It dispels commons myths about smoking and provides tips for quitting. Since 2013, Fast Forward has worked on the Smoke Free Homes project with primary schools to provide
information about the benefits of smoke-free environments and the harm to children caused by second-hand smoking. Pupils then create leaflets on the topic and share their learning with other children and pass on information to parents. More recently, volunteers have been awarded funding for a tobacco peer education project. They will improve young people’s knowledge about tobacco and encourage positive health choices. They will also create lesson plans and toolkits and distribute them to practitioners and peer educators. Fast Forward is part of the Scottish Tobacco Control Alliance and has free resources available from www.fastforward.org.uk/siteinformation/download- centre.html Chiara Marin, Volunteers’ Coordinator, Fast Forward
2. Smart Youth
The Swedish youth organization Smart Youth strives to enhance the quality of life of young people through education, workshops and skills development in order to make conscious decisions for a healthy lifestyle free from alcohol, drugs and tobacco. Our work
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is based on the contract concept where by the youth solidifies their choice of a healthy lifestyle through a contract. We believe youth play a key role in long-term, efficient prevention, which is why a central aspect of our work is empowering youth to become active change makers, involving them in processes that concern them and their future. The organization is funded by the Swedish National Board for Youth Affairs as well as Public Health Agency of Sweden. For more information please visit: www.smartungdom.se or contact sara@smartungdom.se Sara Dinwiddie, Secretary General, Smart Youth
3. Workshop: Does smoking make us 3F (Fantastic, Fabulous, Fascinating) person?
Does smoking really make us 3F? NO, NO and NO! It is not the case and will never be. During the workshop on this very same topic, during the first ETYC after a little “flew back in time� exercise we all agreed that cigarettes 22
NEVER helped anyone nor brought any good, it just made them more addicted. Among the participants we had active and passive smokers, together with no and ex-smokers. The conclusion was that except for yellow ugly skin, even uglier diseases and of course some fatal consequences, nothing good was brought by them. The story that all 3F people - actors, stars, models and so on smoke, is an invented story by the gentlemen from the tobacco industry, that want you to smoke and to think that smoking is great. The second part of the workshop was focusing on both sides of the table public health and tobacco industry, where a case simulation was done among the participants - some of them were representing the industry and other the non-governmental (NGO) sector during a court trial. Apparently for the first time in history the NGO sector won the battle and proved that SMOKING IS FATAL. Ena Peeva, student and workshop leader
4. O2 belongs to you
The project O2 belongs to you is a youth developed and youthled project, which aims at raising awareness among young people about the effects of active and passive smoking as well as about the immoral methods of the tobacco industry. Although tobacco companies might give the impression to oppose the sale of their
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products to young people, their marketing is still mainly based on this population – their goal is to make a person smoke as early as possible so he or she will be their consumer for the entire life until the premature death. Besides the prevention in primary schools, we spread awareness mainly among secondary school students. Since our project is aimed at young people from the age of 12 to 19, we have appropriately adjusted our contents to the different age groups. We are led by the fact that the goal in a particular age group can only be achieved by using an understandable and interesting approach for the target group. Because of our rich experience in the field of youth activation and participation we use mainly peer-to-peer education and follow the motto ‘Nothing for young people without young people!’ Nina Rogelj, leader of O2 belongs to you, No Excuse Slovenia
6. Results
During the conference itself we achieved a number of goals that will impact European youth and tobacco policies. Besides discussing and agreeing on the idea of creating a European Tobacco Youth Network, we have taken action towards the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). We have sent letters in as much as 10 languages to the MEPs of our respective countries that persuaded them into voting for a more youth-friendly tobacco directive and not the one that was wanted by the tobacco industry. The letter can be found at the end of this booklet. The conference finished with a presentation of our work in the National Council of the Republic of Slovenia to some important people from the sector, including experts on public health as well as politicians. We have had a confirmation of attendance of three Slovenian MEPs who cancelled their participation in the last minute. After the presentations we also got a chance to discuss the topics presented and some of the more topical issues concerning the European Directive on Tobacco Products.
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Nationa l Coun cil Presen tation
7. How to go on?
The participants of the 1st European Tobacco Youth Conference (ETYC) thought also about its follow-up activities. We have grouped them by one, five and ten years after the ETYC, so in case you read this paper at the end of 2014, 2018 or 2023, make sure you give us a call in case we are not there yet. Or even better, give us a call anyway, we will be more than happy to get some helping hand :) 1 YEAR after ETYC • • • • • • • • • • •
Set up the European Tobacco Youth Network Yearly network meetings Sharing ideas and helping with projects Starting to plan the 2nd ETYC Establish a ETYC alumni group Continue using the digital platform and share best practice over social media Prepare a solid action plan Spread the network and cover other countries Increase the visibility of the event Maintain contact for implementation support of developed projects Become or find local tobacco control ambassadors
5 YEARS after ETYC • Participants of the 1st ETYC have impact at EU and country level – influencing politics • New projects on different levels • At least five conferences held with at least 250 ETYC alumnis • Prepare mini country events • Assure that the network is represented in the tobacco related European structures and events • Create a platform for resources and doubts sharing • Expand the topics and cooperation between fields, e.g. medicine, policy, youth action, economy etc. 28
10 YEARS after ETYC • At least one representative of the ETYC Alumni Network in the European Parliament • Assuring funds to keep the project going • The ETYC Series is taken care by a new generation of young people • Celebrate ETYC 10th anniversary! • Every country has an established youth commission on tobacco • Organize the 1st Global Tobacco Youth Conference
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8. Youth Network No Excuse Slovenia
No Excuse Slovenia strives for positive social change and personal growth of young people. It fosters their social participation and activation of their peers by peer-to-peer and intergenerational dialogue, it raises awareness about current topics and encourages their critical thinking. Through various projects the organization promotes and advocates for sustainable development, tolerance, healthy lifestyle and active citizenship. It’s vision is a world where young people think critically, suggest changes and act upon. No Excuse Slovenia is apolitical and a non-profit making organization working independently from any private source of funding. More about the organization can be found on: w: www.noexcuse.si fb: /noexcuseslovenia tw: @NoExcuseSlo
MEP letter
Dear MEP name and surname, We, the participants of the 1st European Tobacco Youth Conference, that took place on the 15th to the 21st of September 2013 in Izola, Slovenia, strongly support the fast adoption of a strong revision of the EU Tobacco Products Directive to significantly reduce youth tobacco use and harmonize effective tobacco control measures across the Union. The conference encompassed more than sixty participants, aged from fifteen to thirty years, from seventeen Member States plus Turkey, representing more than 25 organizations, from various disciplines. After serious consideration and discussion on the topics of EU policy, prevention and cessation and tobacco industry market manipulation among other tobacco control relevant subjects and in the view of the upcoming revision of the European Tobacco Products Directive, we came to the unanimous decision that, as the youth of Europe, must have a say in what is being included in this revision. 1. On the production of cigarettes on a broader view, we firmly support that there should be no flavoring or aromatic additives since these increase attractiveness of tobacco products and are very appealing to youth. 2. With regard to packaging regulations, plain packaging should be introduced alongside relevant pictorial health warnings showcasing the health dangers of using tobacco. The tobacco industry should only use materials that are fully recyclable for the packaging of the cigarettes. Design elements following marketing schemes such as slim cigarettes, targeted to specific ethnicities, gender, race, sexual orientation, age or any other defining feature, should be banned and fined when they take place. 3. Snus should not be allowed to circulate in Europe except Sweden and only there, because of the precedent and for no other reason, but also be heavily regulated and restricted there, so there is no smuggling. 4. E-cigarettes should be classified only as a medicinal product prescribed by a health professional that will help substitute real cigarettes and thus be regulated and controlled by the state and help current smokers quit smoking.
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The Tobacco Products Directive is a strong tool to protect the youth of your constituency against the devastating effects to tobacco use. We thus trust in your leadership to ensure that the EP comes to a fast decision putting health and youth protection before the interests of an industry which produces more harm than benefits on local, national and global level. The Directive should be used to also regulate points of sales (POS) advertising. Best practices from e.g. Scotland demonstrate that a POS advertisement ban works and does not disrupt the adult market. Tobacco products should be limited to stores that will have a shutter in front of the cigarettes so they will not be viewable by minors as well as non-smokers in general. Advertisement and promotional activities must be banned everywhere. This measure does not infringe of adult choice, it protects youth against a harmful product. The tobacco industry must not be able to be a sponsor in any kind of event that involves or can involve the youth and should be fined severely when doing so, with regards to the people that are approximately exposed to their sponsorship advertisement. Vending machines must also be banned since it is easy for minors to purchase cigarettes. We thus call on your leadership in working with youth delegates towards a timely revision of the Tobacco Advertising Directive, including enforced media regulation following the measures globally agreed in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and its implementing guidelines – unanimously adopted by the EU and its Member States. We also support that any indirect product placement should be restricted in movies or other televised material that promotes or even includes tobacco references. Such material should only be aired after 9pm and with the caution sign in the beginning that this televised material depicts tobacco usage. In addition, the freedom of speech of the media regarding publicising the negative aspects of the tobacco industry should be protected by giving them protection when they are attacked by the tobacco industry or other sister industries. Concerning taxation and duties, evidence shows that increasing and harmonising taxation will increase revenues and reduce smoking rates across Europe. It has been proven to work efficiently as a public health tool but has not been used properly. The ministries of Finance and
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Health should have a department created working together towards taxation being used as a public health tool, e.g. through earmarking taxes. To deter illicit trade in tobacco products, the duties should be paid to the first European member state border check and then the revenues be promptly transferred to the destination member state country. The fines for breaking the tobacco related regulations should be reflect the Member States purchase power and could be a fixed percentage of each countries GDP or minimum wage, to always keep it relevant and socially just. INSERT COUNTRY SPECIFIC EXAMPLE HERE This directive review is of paramount importance to the future of the health of Europe’s youth. We care, we are engaged and we want to take an active role in the shaping of our future. In order to ensure a productive and sustainable collaboration, we committed ourselves to the establishment of a European Tobacco Youth Network, which will actively engage in EU policy making as the youths voice in effective tobacco prevention and control. We are looking forward to constructive and continuous dialogue with you and your fellow MEPs. To finish we would like to quote one of the participants of the Conference that was referring to the future action by the MEPs: »We don’t want to hear you say »Yes we can«, we want to hear you say »Yes we did«. Yours sincerely, Name and surname Organization
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