Over 100 youth and adult advocates from around the U.S. and world participated in advocacy events around the 2007 Altria shareholders meeting in East Hanover, New Jersey. This year a "biohazard" theme was chosen: Stop Poisoning Youth Worldwide/Stop the Toxic Pandemic/Quarantine Philip Morris for Global Health! Click here for more information about the theme.

On April 25, a youth advocacy training was held in East Hanover, New Jersey, followed by a demonstrations outside the Altria meeting the next day and Altria's New York City headquarters the day after. Twenty youth and adult advocates who were part of our collective group also went inside the meeting to confront CEO Louis Camilleri about the company’s practices around the world. Click on the links in the sidebar for more information about these events.

The advocacy events coincided with a call to governments worldwide to take action to prevent an independent Philip Morris International from worsening the global tobacco pandemic. To date, over 155 organizations in more than 70 countries have signed on to the call. Click here for more information on the call to governments.

Also on April 26, youth advocates from England, Nigeria, and the U.S.demonstrated around the BAT meeting in London. For more information, see recent press releases on ASH's website, ASH's report "You've Got to be Kidding", and a video by Ken Dahlgren.

List of groups that collaborated to organize the events around the 2007 Altria shareholders meeting: Youth Extinguishing Tobacco Team (AR), Communities Under Siege/Ursa Institute (CA), Allen Ortiz Consulting (NC), Match Coalition (CT), Essential Action (DC), REAL (HI), Just Eliminate Lies (IA), reACT! (MT), REBEL (NJ), No Limits (NE), Dover Youth to Youth (NH), Reality Check (NY), stand (OH), GYAT Network (international)

For more information, contact Anna White of Essential Action at tobacco@essential.org or +1 202-387-8030