Community Groups to Fire Up Anti-Smoking Drive at Stadium

At this weekend’s San Diego Chargers-San Francisco 49ers football game, a coalition of community groups plans to officially kick off its anti-smoking campaign by taking a swipe at a popular tobacco industry symbol.

The alliance of more than 30 organizations, known as the Tobacco Control Coalition, will display its logo, in fireworks, during a display after the game--directly above a huge stadium sign advertising Marlboro cigarettes, a spokesman announced at a press conference Thursday.

“That logo will be displayed right over the top of the Marlboro man,” said David Burns, the coalition’s chairman.

It will be the first step in a local drive that will encompass a greater scope than other anti-smoking movements, Burns said.

Rather than simply educating people about the health hazards of smoking, Burns said, the groups will attack media images and societal attitudes associated with the habit.

Segments of the community will be targeted that statistically are more likely to start smoking--such as children and some ethnic minorities--or that are particularly susceptible to harm from cigarette smoke, such as pregnant women, said William Cox, director of the county’s Health Services Department.

The “tobacco-free” coalition includes the local chapters of the American Cancer Society, American Heart Assn., American Lung Assn. and the county’s health and education departments.

“Smoking is part of the way we cope with stress,” Burns said. “It’s part of the way that we interact with one another. . . . What will happen is that we will go after tobacco on a broad front.”

As spectators arrive at Saturday’s game, they will receive an anti-smoking pledge card and bumper sticker, Cox said.

The coalition’s members hope people will sign the pledge cards and turn them in at the stadium’s gates--an act that could be the first step toward quitting, Cox said.

Also, several hundred children who attended anti-smoking educational programs in the community will attend the game as guests of the health services department, Cox said.

Funding for the anti-smoking campaign, which totals about $8 million, will come from state cigarette tax revenues, Cox said.