Cigarette use among teens inches downward

  Article date: 2001/11/12,Rate Is Higher in Rural Areas

Fewer teens were smoking in 2000 than in 1999, continuing a downward movement in youth cigarette use since an all-time high in 1997, according to the latest National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The survey also reveals that rural teens are smoking more than their peers in cities, says Lee Wilson, who directs the youth tobacco access program for the Center for Substance Abuse and Prevention, part of HHS.

For youths in metropolitan areas, nearly 12% reported smoking in the past month, compared to nearly 18% for youths in rural, non-metropolitan areas.

"I think this is really significant," Wilson says. "I think it clearly speaks of a population that may be in greater need [of tobacco-control efforts]."

Among the survey results released by the federal agency:

* In the 2000 survey, slightly fewer youths between 12 and 17 reported smoking cigarettes, compared to the 1999 survey.
* Among smokers of all ages, two out of three report smoking daily, while among the 12 to 17 age group, about one out of three were daily smokers.
* The number of teens who start smoking each day has gone down since its recent peak in 1997 of 3,186 new teen smokers each day. In 1999, 2,145 youths between ages 12 and 17 started smoking each day.
* In sheer numbers, 1.4 million teens between 12 and 17 started smoking during 1999, compared to 1.9 million in 1997.
* Among all respondents who reported smoking in the past month, about half were either binge or heavy alcohol drinkers.
* Among smokers, about one out of six report illicit drug use, compared to less than one out of twenty of non-smokers.

Results Emphasize Tobacco as a Gateway Drug

The survey adds to the body of evidence that smoking is associated with use of illicit drugs, binge drinking, and heavy regular use of alcohol, Wilson says.

Because of that, he says, the message of tobacco control initiatives designed to get kids not to start smoking, or to quit if they have started, should speak in broad terms of a healthy lifestyle.
Price Hike, State Tobacco Control Efforts Contribute to Decline

The decline two years in a row is encouraging, but much work remains for health advocates to reduce the numbers of teens who smoke — and that work must include teens themselves, says Ron Todd, MSEd, director of tobacco control for the American Cancer Society.

"To see a decline in even two years is good news, but it’s not anything to be complacent about," says Todd.

Some of that decline, he says, could be attributed to a price increase in cigarettes, which is known to have an effect on youth smoking. Several states have allocated money to reduce teen smoking, and those programs appear to have an effect as well, he notes.
Culture Shifts Away From Smoking

Meanwhile the general cultural shift away from smoking that is taking place in the nation at large affects teens, Todd says. Although the national survey results include all ages, anti-smoking advocates pay close attention to teen smoking because that’s the age when 80% of all smokers started the habit, he says.

"If you look at the number of smoke-free places that have been established in restaurants and public places, that really is a cultural shift," Todd says. "When you begin to eliminate smoking in public places, it begins to help the public understand that the majority of people don’t want to be exposed to tobacco smoke. It sends a good message to young people."
Teens Play a Role

What’s more important, however, is to involve teens in shaping the message, Todd says.

"I think there’s been more of an effort over the last few years to involve young people," Todd says. "We’re doing things with them rather than preaching to them. We’re incorporating their creativity into our efforts, rather than just teaching them not to smoke."
Kids Have Easy Access to Tobacco

The annual survey is based on a representative sample of the population age 12 and older. For the 2000 survey, more than 71,000 people were interviewed, according to the federal agency.

The survey also reported:

* Youths have easy access to tobacco, despite laws in all 50 states prohibiting the sale of tobacco to anyone under 18. More than half of the young people 17 and under surveyed reported that they personally bought cigarettes in the last month.
* Approximately one-third of them reported buying cigarettes in a store where the clerk hands out the cigarettes. More of these young survey respondents bought them from friends or relatives.

All 50 states have developed goals and plans to improve enforcement of laws restricting sales of cigarettes, Wilson says, but the access to cigarettes through friends and family remains a more challenging obstacle.

"One of the things that is kind of confounding to all of us in the tobacco control movement is that youths are getting a large share of their cigarettes from non-retail sources," Wilson says.

"Where we have been able to change laws and increase retailer compliance and increase the price of tobacco, we are still left with having to change the social norms among some people, i.e., those who believe it is all right to share their cigarettes with kids," Wilson says. "And, this may be the hardest effort of all."

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