Tell Congress: Children Don't Belong on U.S. Tobacco Farms

 

In the U.S., you must be 21 years old to buy cigarettes, but exemptions to child labor laws allow 12-year-olds to harvest toxic tobacco. Working with tobacco plants puts teen workers' health at risk. Exposure to tobacco and nicotine can result in serious symptoms, including fainting, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, headaches, dizziness, skin rashes, difficulty breathing, and irritation to the eyes and mouth. One child tobacco worker said that the work made her feel "like I was going to die." 

 

But in the U.S., there is no federal law banning children from working with harmful crops like tobacco. Help us end one of the worst forms of child labor by writing to your Senators and members of Congress, urging them to ban child labor in U.S. tobacco, a crop that kills eight million people a year.