Black lung is worth 1,000 words

Jenny Marder

Debi Austin keeps her business cards in a silver Camel cigarette

case. At first glance, nothing about her stands out. She has a

friendly smile, cropped brown hair and perfectly manicured eyebrows.

But when she speaks, it is through a hole in her throat.

Austin, 53, spoke on the dangers of cigarette smoking at the World

No Tobacco Day Saturday at Huntington Beach Pier Plaza.

The health fair -- sponsored by two Orange County-based anti

tobacco groups, the Tobacco Use Prevention Program and Stop Tobacco

Abuse of Minors Pronto -- was aimed at educating children about the

dangers of tobacco. It was one of thousands held in cities around the

world trying to reduce tobacco usage.

“We found that we’ve really found a home here,” said Jim Walker,

event organizer and spokesman for the nonprofit group Stop Tobacco

Abuse of Minors Pronto. “We’ve found an ideal location ... This is

where everyone on the planet wants to live. And if we can make it a

little healthier, than that’s what we want to achieve.”

In its second year in Huntington Beach, the event featured bands,

guest speakers and exhibits by more than 25 local organizations.

Booths were set up with displays, some shocking, some sad, some

simply informational.

At the entrance was a memorial with more than 20 snapshots of

celebrities who died from smoking related deaths. Celebrities

included Lucille Ball, John Wayne, Walt Disney, Sammy Davis Junior

and Nat King Cole. Splayed across an Astroturf throne underneath were

plastic roses and a hammer etched with the word “justice.”

“When we lose a talent like Walt Disney or George Harrison, we all

lose,” Walker said.

The preserved lungs and brains of smokers, blackened to a crisp,

were the most talked about exhibits.

Also displayed were such items as a statue of two skeletons

clutching cigarettes, one clad in a tuxedo, the other in a wedding

gown. Underneath was a sign labeled, “Newlydeads -- don’t let your

spouse be the death of you.” There were yellow, rotting teeth in

nicotine-soaked water and a model representing the chemicals that

smokers are exposed to, including arsenic, mercury, nitrous oxide and

butane.

“Chewing tobacco also, it’s terrible, it gives you mouth cancer,”

said Ray Garcia, a north Tustin resident who stopped by on his way to

the pier. “These people, like Lucille Ball,” he said, pointing to her

picture on the memorial. “That’s a real strong message.”

At a table set up by the American Cancer Society was a jar filled

to the brim with tar, indicating the amount of tar that goes through

the lungs of someone who smokes a pack a day for a year.

“There are people who see this and go, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to

quit,’” said Bruce Vancil, director of the American Cancer Society’s

Orange County branch.

This event comes at a time when local organizations have begun a

push to ban smoking on the Huntington Beach Pier, something that has

already been done in Seal Beach.

“We’ve gotten major, major positive response for that,” said event

organizer Narsis Kabiri.

It still remains to be seen whether President Bush will sign a

watershed treaty crafted by the World Health Organization that would

call for a ban on cigarette advertising and require countries to

mandate warning labels that cover at least 30% of each cigarette

pack. But Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson

announced that he would not opposed adoption of the treaty.

“This is a watershed moment for tobacco use prevention,” Walker

said.

The treaty was adopted by the World Health Organization Wednesday

but still needs to be ratified by 40 nations.

“More Americans die every week from cigarettes than died in the

World Trade Center,” Walker said. “It’s a weapon of mass destruction.

If you’re looking for weapons of mass destruction, look at a

cigarette package.”