The statistics are startling. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 400,000 Americans die from tobacco related illnesses each year, with 23,000 of them being Pennsylvanians. About 4.5 million teenagers across the nation are already tobacco consumers, and of those teenagers, one out of three will die from a tobacco-related disease. The numbers are shocking and, according to the organizers of last month’s rally at the Capitol, are even more ironic, as each victim will succumb to a premature death that could have been prevented.

Late last month, over 1200 volunteers from the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, and the American Lung Association led a march from City Island to the Capitol to meet with legislators and challenge them to “do the right thing” with the $11.2 million dollars allotted to the state as a result of the tobacco company settlement of 1998. The rally, one of the largest and most enthusiastic of recent times, gathered supporters from across the region, with school students and concerned volunteers traveling from as far away as Pittsburgh and Erie to express their belief in the cause.

At the rally, the supporters emphasized their recommendation that the entire settlement be spent on improving public health and, specifically, that at least 30% of that amount be designated for tobacco prevention and control and not highways or other infrastructures. Echoing the sentiment of many others, teen speaker Ashley Lambert, who lost her father to lung cancer, said, “The money should be put toward the quality of life in Pennsylvania, not the quality of the roads.”

To the marchers, the distribution of the settlement and the creation of programs are important not only to the current sufferers, but also to the youth of Pennsylvania, like those in attendance at the rally. One of the groups of students at the march was the Bensalem High School FADD/SADD program whose members participated in the rally not only to show their belief in the project, but also, according to student-member Rima Patel, “to let us be heard about issues that are important to us, to break the stereotypes of typical adolescents.” The presence of Pennsylvania’s youth at the rally was not overlooked by Joel Weisberg, Chairman of the Board for the American Heart Association of Pennsylvania and Delaware, who said, “If we’re going to solve the problem, we’ve got to get people before they start, and all of the teenagers here are very important in getting the word out — they’re a sign of things to come.”

Which brings us back to Bill Dunn. By speaking at such events, Dunn hopes that his story not only captivates his young audience, but makes them think, adding that often teens are “told ‘don’t do it’ so much that they needed to see the consequences.” In this case, Dunn hopes that the consequences he suffered from tobacco use would affect the legislature’s decision-making as well, stressing, “I hope that every time they get their pens, they remember this voice.”