About 150 students from around the state came together today at the state Capitol to lobby lawmakers to vote yes on boosting taxes on all tobacco products.

They came chanting anti-tobacco slogans on Kick Butts Day, which officially by the governor's proclamation will forever be Feb. 27. Nationally, Kick Butts Day is a day where teenagers can speak up and take action against tobacco companies.

After the rally in front of the Capitol, they lunched with lawmakers and then made personal visits urging the lawmakers to support raising taxes on all tobacco products, including cigarettes, chewing tobacco and smokeless tobacco.

"Giving youth a voice on tobacco issues is important so that we can show others that we are trying to impact the future of our generation," said Phil Abernathy, Kapaa High School senior and Real (Hawaii Youth Exposing the Tobacco Industry) member. "Kick Butts Day provides us with an opportunity to demonstrate how many youth in Hawaii care about these issues and want to make a difference."

Real and other programs are funded by the Tobacco Settlement funds and are used for education programs around the state.

Statewide, fewer teens are experimenting with cigarettes, with 14.7 percent of the 2007 middle school students trying cigarettes, down from 38.4 percent in 2000. Among high school students the number is now about 38.3 percent in 2007, compared to 63.3 percent reporting they tried smoking in 2000.

Today only 9.7 percent of the high school students say they have smoked at least once in the past 30 days, compared to 24.5 percent in 2000. The numbers are taken from a survey of students in 2007.