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Boston, MA -- Citing cancer, child addiction, and a waste of rolling
paper, students from around campus gathered in the Harvard University
campus quadrangle Friday to protest the existence of the tobacco
industry by burning tobacco.
Hundreds of students, of all ages and races, gathered together with
cigarettes in hand, to shown a united front against tobacco, and
lit their cigarettes on fire in unison. Free cigarettes were given
out to all participants who wished to burn them.
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Harvard student displays
a "Burn Tobacco" sign, as he burns tobacco and
inhales deeply to speed up the oxidation process of both
his cigarette and his politcal message.
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Organizer Timothy Raul opened the rally by calling for everyone
to help speed up the burning process by placing the flaming cigarettes
in their mouths and inhaling deeply.
"It’s for such a good cause," said Raul, inhaling
deeply and thereby emphasizing the political statement. "Hopefully,
this will wake up others as to the dangers of smoking and may lead
to a banning of tobacco altogether."
"The fight doesn't end today," shouted Raul to the crowd. "You
must take a 24-hour a day stand against tobacco if we want to win
this war.
"I urge you all, when your cigarette is done burning to please
use the remaining cinders of tobacco to light up a fresh cigarette,
that way we can use tobacco against itself on the way to beating
this thing."
Already, the movement has caught on. In Boston alone, two-thirds
of the entire population set fire to their cigarettes while inhaling
deeply, thus speeding up the burning process and showing their disgust
for the tobacco industry.
Sociological professors at Harvard's esteemed Socio-physical Health
Studies program also think the rally’s deep messages are a good
idea and hope that it will help to lower the rising numbers of children
under 18 who smoke.
"The message will be even more effective if we can convince
teenagers to pressure otherteenagers into feeling that it's cool
to burn tobacco and show your displeasure with it," said Dr.
Michelle Lyones-Trafalger, Phd., dean of the department. "Certain
types of peer pressure are good and this certainly falls into that
category."
In a surprise response press release from tobacco industry leaders,
companies including Phillip Morris and Paine-Burnbank said that they "fully
encourage students to continue their demonstrations and urge others
to follow their lead by burning more cigarettes." If you're faced with an addiction to a more serious
substance, you can find a teen
drug abuse treatment center staffed by professionals who are trained to
handle young people overcome dependency.
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