Health and Well-Being
Some Sobering Facts on Kids and Smoking
Unlike other companies that manufacture consumer goods, tobacco companies do not compete by cutting prices. They compete on the public's emotional level by creating enticing images that people wish to pursue for themselves. Kids are particularly vulnerable to these seductive images. They believe that if they smoke they'll appear thinner, more glamorous, more macho, more mature.
And unfortunately, what starts out as adventurous experimentation often results in a deadly addiction.
Each day, over 3,300 kids become regular smokers. Of these, one-third will eventually die of a tobacco-related disease. The average age for first-time smoking is twelve. Joe Camel is this decade's single most effective ad campaign targeting children; this smoking cartoon character was found to be as recognizable to kids as Mickey Mouse. Each day, at least 4,800 adolescents (age 11 to 17) try their first cigarette. The number climbs to 5,500 if you include youth 18 to 20 years old. Four and a half million kids between the ages of 12 and 17 are regular smokers. Unless current rates are reversed, more than five million children under the age of 18 will die from diseases related to smoking. Nearly 90 percent of adult smokers began smoking at or before age eighteen. Tobacco marketing is a major factor in persuading kids to begin smoking—twice as influential as peer pressure, the culprit the tobacco industry usually seeks to blame.The most popular brands of cigarettes among youth—Marlboro, Camel and Newport—account for 86 percent of the teenage cigarette market. These brands are also the most heavily advertised, portraying images of slim, attractive young women and rugged, handsome men. Tobacco is considered to be a "gateway drug." This means its use is likely to pave the way for use of other illicit drugs. About 65 percent of cocaine users started by smoking cigarettes, and about 50 percent followed tobacco use with alcohol and marijuana. Seventy percent of teens who smoke report that they are addicted and regret ever having started. Sources - The National Cancer Institute
University of California, San Diego Cancer Center
"Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People,"
A Report of the Surgeon General, 1994.
KickButt.org
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, November 21, 1996
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 1997.
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Population Estimates 1997," Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.