Next Wednesday, five dozen youth will go to the state capitol to meet with legislators and educate them on tobacco issues. Midland will be represented at the event as one Lee High School senior It's part of the Texas Youth Summit and 17-year-old Elizabeth Blackwell of Lee High School will represent Midland as she goes face-to-face with the Texas lawmakers. The theme is a smoke-free Texas and discussions will take place talking about general prevention of tobacco and the harmful affects of second hand smoke. Then the delegates will talk to state legislators about tobacco policies. The Youth Summit was established more than 10 years ago, but Texas just got involved. You may not realize it, but young people play a critical role when it comes to tobacco issues. The legislators like to hear from the youth. Adults can go talk to state lawmakers, but it makes more of an impact if there's teenagers involved. All the policy recommendations will be taken to state legislators and there is the possibility that the ideas could someday be made into a law helping reduce tobacco use in Texas. The Youth Summit goes from March 23 to the 25, and Blackwell assured us that, once she's back in town, she'll let us know how everything went.