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Kids Corner
Almost 22 percent of the nation's high school students smoked at least one day in a month in 2003, with almost 10 percent reporting frequent smoking, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. High school smoking is more prevalent in Tennessee than the rest of the nation with 27.6 percent of high school students as current smokers and almost 15 percent reporting frequent smoking. While cigarettes remain the primary tobacco product used by youth, spit tobacco and cigars have gained popularity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16.6 percent of Tennessee high school students are currently using cigars and 12 percent are using spit tobacco. About 36 percent of middle or junior high school students and 58 percent of high school students have tried cigarette smoking.
Big Tobacco Targets You Did you know that tobacco companies have been barred from advertising their products to kids since the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement? The agreement, a legal settlement reached between the major tobacco companies and most states to compensate for the burden on public funds of medical care incurred because of tobacco-related illness, prevents tobacco companies from taking "any action, directly or indirectly, to target youth". The settlement specifically bans tobacco companies from advertising, promoting or marketing their products to kids, yet according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Big Tobacco is still targeting youth. In fact, according to the Federal Trade Commission, tobacco companies upped their spending on marketing by $12.7 billion a year. Joe Camel is specifically banned but more recent marketing expenditures have been directed to the introduction of new products that include many that don't sound like anything a seasoned, adult smoker would want to try. Who do you think is attracted to candy-flavored tobacco products (toffee, mint, citrus and pineapple coconut flavored cigarettes and apple or vanilla and cherry flavored spit tobacco)? What about tobacco products with trendy-names or hip hop themes? According to the U.S. Surgeon General, 90 percent of adult smokers start smoking when they are kids. We must keep vigilant watch on Big Tobacco's marketing and product lines to stamp out tobacco-related illness in Tennessee.
The Issues It is easier and more cost effective to prevent youths from ever starting to smoke than to get an adult to quit or pay the medical costs associated with tobacco-related diseases. One way to fight back: Raising the price of cigarettes is one of the most proven and effective methods of preventing and reducing youth smoking. The U.S. Surgeon General reports that children are two to three times more responsive to price increases and are more likely to never start, quit or cut back to avoid paying higher cigarette prices. Economic research by the Journal of Health Economics shows that every 10 percent increase in the real price of cigarettes reduces the number of children who smoke by 6 or 7 percent.
What you can do The Campaign for a Healthy and Responsible Tennessee invites you to join youth from across the state to make a difference in the fight against the suffering caused by tobacco use. Please click below to receive alerts and updates. Your participation is confidential.
Visit our "It's A Killer" web site for more information
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Youth Tobacco Use 
