Teen Smoking Up

In a recent survey, the average percentage of high school students who reported smoking in the previous months was 34.8 percent, which is up from 30.5 percent in 1993 and 27.5 percent in 1991. The highest average percentage was among white males, but the largest increase in percentage from 1993 was among black males, which went from around 16 percent in 1993 to 28 percent in 1995. Figures for Hispanic males and females fall between that of white males and females and black males and females.

A contributing factor to this increase is that retailers are not asking to students to show proof of age, a tactic that has been shown to be the best way to prevent illegal tobacco sales to minors. Other plans to reduce teenage smoking will need to consist of reforms to reduce teen-age demand for them. Encouragingly, the use of chewing tobacco and other smokeless tobacco products has levelled off.

Source: "Increase in Teen-Age Smoking Sharpest Among Black Males" by Barnaby J Feder, New York Times, May 24, 1996

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