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Spokane.net »
Sudoku
 | Wednesday, March 5, 2003 |
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Teenage smoking in decline Carla K. Johnson
Smoking among Washington teenagers fell sharply since the state began running anti-tobacco ads, beefed up its efforts to prevent sales to minors and organized teen volunteers to speak out. Still, one in five high school seniors smokes, survey results released Tuesday show. And 55 of the state's kids start smoking every day. Students lighting up Marlboros in an alley near Shadle Park High on Tuesday said they weren't surprised smoking rates dropped. One teenage smoker said it's because of "those gross ads." Billboards and TV ads depicting damaged internal organs have helped another Shadle student, one of Spo-kane's anti-tobacco activists, get his message across. Joseph Dressler, 16, said the revolting images grab kids' attention. "A lot of people are visual learners," said Dressler, of Spokane Teens Against Tobacco. "When they see something so visual and so graphic, they say, `Oh my gosh, did you see that picture?"' The ad campaigns al "The ads reveal the facts about what Big Tobacco is trying to get us to do," said Megan Murray, 17, a junior at North Central High and a volunteer with Spokane Teens Against Tobacco. "We are the target. No one wants to be a target. Kids are saying, `I'm not going to be another statistic."' Highlights of the 2002 Healthy Youth Survey released Tuesday showed drops in smoking among all the grade levels surveyed: •Sixth-graders' smoking rate dropped from 4.7 percent in 1998 to 2.2 percent in 2002. •Eighth-graders' smoking dropped from 15.2 percent in 1998 to 9.2 percent in 2002. •Tenth-graders' smoking dropped from 21.8 percent in 1998 to 15 percent in 2002. •And 12th-graders' smoking dropped from 28.6 percent in 1998 to 22.7 percent in 2002. •Overall, the number of girls smoking dropped more than boys. The data are from a statistically representative sample of a survey of 137,000 students in 752 schools. The sample size was 25,000. The state's $29 million Tobacco Prevention and Control Program is funded primarily by money from Washington's share of the national settlement with Big Tobacco. Money from a 2002 increase in the state tobacco sales tax and federal funds also go into the program. The program began about three years ago. Teenagers have been involved with the planning and with efforts to educate their peers through school visits and rallies. "Youth-to-youth works a lot better than adult to youth," said Lindsey Lepper, 17, a junior at Washtucna High School and a volunteer with the Smoking Prevention and Reduction Coalition there. "People don't feel they're being talked at. They feel we're actually communicating with them." Losing family members to smoking inspired Lepper to get involved. "My mom's dad and my dad's dad and two great-grandparents died from complications from smoking," she said. The state will save about $640 million in future medical costs because of the reduction in teenage smoking, said Washington State Secretary of Health Mary Selecky. The survey also showed: •The greatest reduction in underage drinking since the survey first was given in 1988. Recent alcohol use was down in all age groups. But it still was as high as 4 percent for sixth-graders, 18 percent for eighth-graders, 30 percent for 10th-graders and 43 percent for high school seniors. •A slight increase in methamphetamine use among eighth-graders and stable rates for 10th- and 12th-graders. About 2 percent of eighth-graders, about 3 percent of 10th-graders, about 3.4 percent of 12th-graders said they'd used meth in the past 30 days, or about 7,200 kids across the state. •Carla K. Johnson can be reached at (509) 459-5148, or by e-mail at carlaj@spokesman.com.
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