The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Local teen to meet Obama

Kyle Peavley of Trenton will watch President Obama sign law giving FDA new power over tobacco industry.

Recent Edgewood High School graduate Kyle Peavley will stand beside President Obama Monday, June 22, during a White House Rose Garden bill signing ceremony giving the FDA new regulatory authority over tobacco. Peavley has been an anti-tobacco advocate for seven years.

Coroner confirms identities of three men killed in arson
11/7/09
Threats prompt school lockdown; suspect charged
11/6/09
Mason woman heard Fort Hood gunfire as husband hid
11/6/09
No Ohio Guard members injured at Fort Hood
11/6/09
Proton Therapy confirms talks to build center in Miami Twp.
11/6/09
> More headlines

By Marie Rossiter, Staff Writer Updated 8:44 PM Sunday, June 21, 2009

Kyle Peavley’s trip to Washington D.C. this week isn’t his first one, but he said it will be his most memorable.

Peavley, 18, an anti-tobacco activist for seven years, will stand next to President Obama on Monday, June 22, as he signs a law giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority over the tobacco industry.

The Edgewood High School graduate said the occasion was payoff for many years of hard work.

“It is such an honor to be one of four young people standing up on that stage,” he said. “I’m not only representing my town, but also my county and state.”

The Trenton resident started his fight against tobacco at age 11 after seeing a group of his peers smoking outside a local roller skating rink.

“It really hit me hard,” Peavley said. “I knew they were starting a habit that would one day kill them. So I decided to get involved.”

The organization Tobacco-Free Kids offers data to support Peavley’s concern. The group’s latest research study showed each year about 18,000 young people will start smoking.

Peavley has lobbied for the new law for three years. In 2006, he met with members of the Ohio Congressional delegation in Washington, D.C., about legislation to grant the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products. He also organized a protest at the district office of U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-West Chester Twp.), an opponent the FDA legislation.

His work has earned him recognition as the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids’ 2007 Youth Advocate of the Year East Regional award winner. He is now the president of Ignite, a group for people ages 13 and 24 who work toward “taking tobacco out of big politics.”

But, Peavley said the honors — and even the trip to see the president — pales in comparison to benefits of this new law.

“It will improve the health of everyone in the future,” he said. “Lower nicotine levels may help people be able to quit or maybe avoid starting in the first place. This gives us the freedom of choice that this nation is built on.”

New FDA regulations against tobacco

Create a tobacco control center within the FDA and gives it authority to regulate the content, marketing and sale of tobacco products to protect public health.

Require tobacco companies and importers to reveal all product ingredients and seek FDA approval for any new tobacco products.

Allow the FDA to change tobacco product content to protect  the public health.

Ban the use of flavors, including candies and fruit flavors, in tobacco products.

Call for new rules that would prevent sales to minors except through direct, face-to-face exchanges between a retailer and a consumer.

Limit advertising that could attract young smokers.

Strengthen warning labels, including increasing their size on packages

Ban the use of expressions such as “light, “mild” or “low” that give the impression that a tobacco product poses less of a health risk.

Source: U.S. FDA

Share this article