<!--StartFragment--> Last night at Boom Island Park, Catalyst got together for some fun, food, water balloons, and of course education. The idea of the BBQ was to reconnect with some regulars, and some friends we hadn’t seen since the summit.   Our friend Loretta from Tobacco-Free Lavender Communities (click here from more info), came bearing beach balls, mints, and a ton of other gear branded with info about the GLBTQI community and tobacco use.  ...

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August 5th marks the 1st Annual Catalyst Block Party BBQ. We will be getting loco at the Boom Island Park from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. There will be lots of yummy BBQ, music, activism, and a bunch of other fun stuff. The party is on a Tuesday night and is conjunction with National Night Out. This will be a great way to see your old Catalyst friends and make some new ones. So come...

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As more and more states and cities in the U.S. go smoke-free more and more people are giving-up cigarettes - and this has the industry scrambling. They’re looking for new customers, or trying to find a way to transition those who quit smoking into a new product. Here enters SNUS.   SNUS is a smokeless tobacco product, similar to chew or snuff. The big difference is that SNUS comes in little packets (think teabags). The...

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 The Catalyst took a road trip to Thief River Falls to show Big Tobacco that we didn't want them in our rodeos and the people in Thief River Falls didn't want them in the rodeo either.  The rodeo there had a major sponsor that wasn't appropriate for the event: Big Tobacco.   The road trip was long, to say the very least.  To say more, it was interesting.  On the way to Thief River Falls, the...

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Save the date for the Catalyst 1st Annual block party. The party is a Tuesday night, and is part of National Night Out. There will be live music, activism, food, tons of awesome people, and all sorts of other stuff. So, keep an eye on this here website for more details.  The party is totally free to come and hang out, and anyone is welcome. The block party location will be at: Boom Island Park 724...

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The weekend at Thief River Falls So, you all know that Catalyst headed up north to try to halt Big Tobacco's sponsorship of rodeos. One of Catalyst's awesome activists breaks-down our action-packed weekend.  Read Tamara's post below:   So just a little while ago I got in from being up in Thief River Falls. It was an amazing weekend that I would relive anytime of my life, we all had so much fun. It started...

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We here at Catalyst are getting geared up for an exciting weekend at the rodeo. On Friday and Saturday (July 11th and 12th) Catalyst will be in Thief River Falls, MN – trying to put a stop to Big Tobacco’s marketing at rodeos.U.S. Smokless Tobacco Company (UST), who makes Skoal and Copenhagen (two of the leading chew brands), is a key sponsor of this weekend’s rodeo. Every year UST sponsors rodeos all across the country....

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  One of Catalyst's friends, Chad Bullock (who some of you met at the National Conference), is currently one of the nine finalists in the Do Something Awards which will be presented as part of the FOX Teen Choice Awards show scheduled to air on August 5th. This contest honors amazing young people who have tackled a problem they saw in the world. Each finalist has been awarded $10,000 and the winner will receive an...

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Check-out the article here:  PHOTO: Mariah Geiger of Farmington High School (right) and other metro area high school students hold a sign representing the 1,200 people who die every day in the United States from tobacco use and secondhand smoke. Geiger and FHS student Elizabeth Roorda (not pictured), both of whom will be sophomores this fall, joined 100 other teens in St. Paul on June 13 to demonstrate against the tobacco industry. - Photo submitted  ...

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<!--StartFragment--> Recently, the Marlboro Man, the iconic darling of Philip Morris International, has been seen in ads all over the world. According to MSNBC, you can now see the eternally rugged cowboy everywhere from China, to Mexico, to Pakistan.   This is a disturbing global barnstorm by Philip Morris International. Marlboro cigarettes are the #1 selling cigarette in the U.S. – thought to be mostly based on the appeal of the lone cowboy image. This...

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