A $150,000 grant from the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation will pay for a youth smoking prevention project run by the American Lung Association of Nevada.

The program aims both to prevent youths from starting to smoke and to assist current smokers in quitting. The funding will be used to expand a pair of existing prevention programs: Teens Against Tobacco Use and Not on Tobacco.

The funding will allow the American Lung Association to train more than 700 Nevada teens as peer educators who will work with elementary and middle-school students to prevent smoking. Tobacco cessation is one of the primary funding priorities for the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation.