The National Youth Tobacco Survey also said smoking among middle-school students dropped 5.4 percent.

Students who were exposed to Legacy's "Truth" antismoking ad campaign were far less likely to smoke than those who hadn't seen the ads, according to the report. "The study shows that the Truth campaign is the antismoking vaccine for kids we've been waiting for," said Legacy President Cheryl Healton.

The survey, conducted with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, queried more than 16,000 high-school and middle-school students in 27 states. Researchers found that 23.8 percent of high-school students smoked, down from 29 percent in 2000. Among middle-school students, 10.6 percent had smoked a cigarette in the past 30 days, down from 11.2 percent.

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