Does secondhand smoke in restaurants and other public places make it hard for you to breathe? Two summers ago, Amit Bushan, age 11, had an asthma attack after breathing secondhand smoke in a bowling alley. Amit did not want smoke to keep him from going out with his friends and family, so he started a campaign to ban smoking in the restaurants of his hometown of Lubbock, TX. He named his campaign STIR, for Stop Tobacco in Restaurants.

Amit educated kids at his school, All Saints Episcopal School, and other schools about the dangers of secondhand smoke, not just for kids with asthma, but for everyone. Amit also showed them how to write letters to the Lubbock City Council asking for smoke-free restaurants, video arcades, and bowling alleys. His peers sent more than 1,000 letters and e-mails.

Amit’s tireless efforts won him AANMA’s 2001 Breather Achiever Award, presented at our Asthma Awareness Day Capitol Hill in May. More importantly, it also won cleaner air for his community.

In December 2000, Amit appeared before the City Council with the Smokeless Lubbock Coalition to ask for a law banning smoking in Lubbock. In June 2001, the City Council voted to make most public places in Lubbock smoke-free. Amit and other kids with asthma in Lubbock no longer have to worry about secondhand smoke when they go out to eat or have fun!

For more information about Amit and the STIR campaign, visit www.stircampaign.org. Check out the page on how to write your own letter. Maybe you can make your town smoke-free! As Amit showed us, you’re never too young to make a difference!

Exerpts reprinted from Allergy & Asthma Health magazine, Fall 2001.