![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|||
![]() |
![]() |
You are in: World: Americas | |||||
![]() |
![]() |
Friday, 5 October, 2001, 13:49 GMT 14:49 UK
US teens shun cigarettes
![]() US Government cautiously welcomes the new figures
The number of American teenagers who start smoking has fallen by a striking 33% in two years, the US Government has reported.
More than 3,000 teenagers began smoking each day in 1997, a record high that has been widely cited in the effort to stem tobacco use by young people.
Teen drug and alcohol use held steady in 2000, the survey said, a finding consistent with other government research. Cultural shift The survey found that fewer people of all ages started smoking in 1998 and 1999 but of those who did, most were teenagers. Experts cited a cultural shift and a rise in the price of cigarettes. But they were hard-pressed to fully explain such a sharp drop in such a short period of time and suggested that a third year of data may be needed to confirm the extent of the trend. Still the evidence of this and other surveys makes it clear that teenage smoking is on the decline, they said. The drop took place during tough years and bad press for cigarette makers, who faced a spate of government lawsuits over the cost of treating sick smokers, an attempt to impose federal regulation on the industry and the leaking to the press of documents that showed companies were targeting their marketing campaigns at children and teenagers. More expensive In 1998, tobacco companies agreed to pay $246 bn to settle lawsuits from state governments and conceded to unprecedented new restrictions on advertising and marketing. This contributed to higher prices. The average price of a pack of cigarettes shot up from $1.85 at the beginning of 1997 to $2.92 by the end of 1999. Several studies have found that teenagers are particularly sensitive to the cost of cigarettes.
At the same time, states were stepping up anti-smoking advertising campaigns and from 1999, several began to use their money from the settlement to discourage tobacco use. In addition, restaurants were going smoke-free, and local governments were approving anti-smoking laws. The dramatic decline in new teenage smokers came after an equally sharp rise. In 1992, fewer than 2,000 new teenagers started smoking each day, a number that climbed by 50% in just three years. Drink and drugs The US Government reported little change in other substance abuse areas. The survey also found that in 2000:
Nearly half of all Americans drink, another steady figure. However the number of people of all ages who say they had driven under the influence of alcohol fell from 10.9 to 10%. The survey included interviews with more then 71,000 people aged over 12. Data on when people began smoking is based on two years of data, meaning information on the number of new smokers in 2000 is not yet available. |
![]() |
See also:
![]() Internet links:
![]() The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Americas stories now:
![]() ![]() Links to more Americas stories are at the foot of the page.
![]() |
![]() |
Links to more Americas stories
|
![]() |
![]() |
^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII | News Sources | Privacy |