Central Los Angeles : Youths’ Billboards Against Smoking Begin Going Up

A total of 19 anti-smoking billboards designed by teenage activists were put up Friday by outdoor advertising companies, signaling a victory for the youths.

They had been lobbying billboard companies to limit ads promoting alcohol and tobacco near schools in low-income neighborhoods.

Last year, members of the Community Coalition for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment conducted a survey comparing the numbers of billboards with ads about alcohol and tobacco in the 9th and 6th Los Angeles City Council districts in South-Central and West Los Angeles.

The group’s results showed that in the 6th district, which is more than 50% white, 28% of 119 billboards promoted tobacco and 10% promoted alcohol. But in the 9th district, which is half the size of the 6th district and only 3% white, 34% of 237 billboards were tobacco ads and 30% were for alcohol.

The coalition, together with Councilwoman Rita Walters, presented the results to three major billboard companies, Metropolitan, Gannett Outdoor and Eller Media, each of which agreed to give the group 40 billboards to post ads against substance, said Marqueece Dawson, youth coordinator.