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Speaking Out

Celebrities Speaking Out

JackyChan

Christy Turlington -- Supermodel/ Entrepreneur

Christy Turlington has been a tireless anti-smoking campaigner since her father's death from lung cancer and her own struggles to quit both made her very aware of the problem.

Several years after she quit she was diagnosed with early-stage emphasyma. This has increased her conviction and her devotion to educating youg people about the dangers of smoking. She is currently heading up an anti-smoking campaign for the Center for Disease Control.

"I have never had a boyfriend who smoked. I never would. The last thing you want to do is kiss someone who smokes!" she says.

Joe Eszterhaus-- Screenwriter

Eszterhaus recently offered a public apology for having glorified smoking his movies, including Basic Instinct.

Eszterhas, who defiantly smoked for most of his life, gave up cigarettes only after being diagnosed with throat cancer (around 2001).

"I am alive but maimed," he recently wrote in the New York Times. "Much of my larynx is gone. I have some difficulty speaking; others have some difficulty understanding me. I had excruciating difficulty swallowing or breathing in the first months after surgery."

Characters smoked in many of the 14 movies Eszterhas wrote. Now he has difficulty forgiving himself for glorifying smoking. "I don't think smoking is every person's right anymore," he wrote. "I think smoking should be as illegal as heroin."

Boyz II Men

Motown musicians BoyzIIMen know the importance of being smoke-free. They're not going to let tobacco smoke damage their personal lives, their careers or their performances.

They enthusiasticly encourage others to live smoke-free as well. While they make a strong statement to young and old alike about the advantages of living smoke-free, their new campaign, "Smokefree---It's the New Evolution" is designed to help teens quit.

Athletes Speaking Out about the dangers of smokeless tobacco

Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees

Braves' first baseman Andres Galarraga

Braves' winning pitcher John Smoltz

NFL Dallas Cowboys' quarterback Troy Aikman

Leslie Nuchow

Leslie Nuchow, a talented young singer/songwriter was approached to participate in a high-profile promotion run by the Virginia Slims cigarette company.

In keeping with her belief that music has the power to heal and should not be used to harm, Leslie turned down their offer and started Virginia SLAM!, an organization committed to exposing corporate deception and exploitation. That was in 1997.

She founded and organized the Virginia SLAM!, a counter-concert held to protest the use of music to market cigarettes and to heighten public awareness of the health risks of tobacco use among women.

Leslie also started SLAM!Records, a record label devoted to targeting industries or organizations which hurt humanity, and SLAM!ing them with the healing power of music.

Celebrities | Innocent Victims | Former Users | Insiders
Pleas from the Dead and Dying