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DrugScreening.org


 

After Several Years of Decline, Smoking Rates Among High School Students May Have Stalled
November 21, 2006

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Research Summary

"[T]he national decline in youth smoking observed during 1997-2003 might have stalled," according to a recent CDC analysis of data from the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

While the prevalence of current cigarette use declined significantly from 36.4% in 1997 to 21.9% in 2003, there was no statistically significant difference in use from 2003 to 2005, which is consistent with trends observed in other national school-based surveys.

According to the authors, factors that may have contributed to this lack of a continued decline include smaller annual increases in the prices of cigarettes, less youth exposure to and/or funding for smoking-prevention campaigns and programs, and substantial increases in spending by the tobacco industry on advertising and promotion.

The authors note that "[t]he national health objective for 2010 of reducing current cigarette smoking among high school students to ≤16% . . . can be achieved only if the annual rate of decline observed during 1997–2003 resumes."

For details, including data charts, source information and caveats, download the PDF file at www.cesar.umd.edu/cesar/cesarfax/vol15/15-45.pdf.

Reprinted from CESAR Fax, a weekly, one-page overview of timely substance abuse trends or issues, from The Center on Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) at the University of Maryland.

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