TOBACCO
Preventing Tobacco Use Among
Youth and Young Adults
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Tobacco Use:
A Preventable
Epidemic
THE PROBLEM
Today’s teens and young
adults can access inforPhoto Source: CDC
mation on millions of subjects almost instantly. But
many of the same media
that warn of the dangers
of tobacco use also carry
messages that smoking is cool—edgy—adult.
That’s one reason nearly 4,000 kids under
age 18 try their first cigarette every day.
That’s almost 1.5 million youth a year.
In fact, nearly 9 out of 10 smokers start
smoking by age 18, and 99% start by age 26.
On any given day, more than 2.500 youth
and young adults who have been occasional
smokers will become regular smokers.
And at least a third of these replacement
smokers will die early from smoking.
The percentage of youth who smoke
went down every year between 1997 and
2003.
But since then, the decrease in teen
smoking has slowed and the use of some
forms of tobacco by youth has leveled out.
Today, one out of four high school seniors
and one out of three young adults under age
26 are smokers.
THE CAUSES
Young people start using tobacco for
many reasons. These are some of the most
important:
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prevention education programs
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Providing therapy services to children, teens,
adults, couples, families and groups:
• Couples/Marriage Therapy
• Family Therapy
• Grief and Loss Counseling
• Play Therapy Interventions, Trauma,
Adoption, Art Therapy, Depression, and
more.
The Tobacco Industry
Fewer adults are smoking today, both
because many have quit and because
about half of long-term smokers die from
diseases caused by their tobacco use. So,
cigarette companies look to young people
as replacement smokers. They use a variety
of marketing strategies
to encourage new consumers to try their products, and to continue
using them.
Susceptibility of
Youth and Young
Adults
Adolescence
and
young adulthood are
the times when people
are most susceptible
to starting tobacco use. Young people are
more vulnerable and more influenced by
marketing than adults. They are also more
willing to take risks, even with their health.
When smoking is portrayed as a social norm
among others who are seen as cool, sophisticated, rebellious, or fun-loving, teens
often respond by copying the behavior
and trying cigarettes themselves. If their
friends smoke, or their siblings smoke, they
are even more likely to smoke themselves.
And young people are sensitive to nicotine. The younger they are when they start
using tobacco, the more likely they are to
become addicted to nicotine and the more
heavily addicted they will become.
Young people sometimes believe nothing
can hurt them. Facts about health problems that could happen in middle age—or
even right away—may mean little to them
now. Many teens and young adults don’t
realize how addictive nicotine is. Some may
have a tough time making healthy choices
or sorting out tobacco myths from facts.
Others may want to fit in with a group
or seem older, edgier, or more socially
grounded. And images that encourage
tobacco use are everywhere— from the
Internet to the movies to big, bright advertisements at convenience stores. All of
these factors make youth a prime market
for tobacco products.
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| Iowa Fall/Winter 2013-2014 | abusemagazine.org
Source: www.surgeongeneral.gov