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April 4, 2012

Report: Help make next generation smoke-free

Special to the Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — Almost 50 years after Hoosier native and former United States Surgeon General Leroy Burney led the landmark 1964 Surgeon General’s Report on tobacco, Regina Benjamin, current United States Surgeon General, released a new report and called on the nation to make the next generation tobacco-free.

According to the report, “Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults,” far too many youth and young adults are using tobacco. In Indiana alone, an estimated 18 percent of high school students smoke.

Each day more than 1,200 Americans die because of smoking. For every one of those deaths, at least two new youth or young adults under the age 26 become regular smokers. And 90 percent of these replacement smokers smoke their first cigarette before they turn 18.

“In Indiana, the latest data shows cigar and smokeless tobacco use has remained unchanged despite the decline in cigarette smoking rates,” said Alia Hazel, Vigo County Tobacco Prevention director. “Unfortunately this is a national trend, as declines in the use of tobacco by youth and young adults across the country mirror Indiana.”

The comprehensive report provides further scientific evidence on young people’s sensitivity to nicotine. The younger they are when they start using tobacco, the more likely they are to get addicted and the more heavily addicted they will become. Nicotine addiction will cause about three out of four teens to smoke into adulthood, even if they intend to quit after a few years.

The report finds that tobacco marketing is a key factor in causing young people to start using tobacco, and nicotine addiction keeps them using it.

In fact, more than $307 million per year is spent on marketing tobacco products in Indiana, and 99 percent of all new smokers come from youth and young adult populations who are enticed to smoke by this marketing. The more young people are exposed to cigarette advertising and promotional activities, the more likely they are to smoke.

In 2010, nearly a third of top-grossing movies for children — those with G, PG, or PG-13 ratings — contained images of tobacco use. The report concludes that smoking in movies causes youth to start smoking.

“Even though the tobacco industry says it’s not targeting us, we see their products everywhere. They’re still manipulating us into trying their deadly products,” said Rachel Mullinnix, a freshman at Indiana State University and a Tobacco Prevention Program intern.

While the long-term health effects of tobacco use are well-known, this report concludes that smoking early in life has substantial health risks that begin almost immediately — even for youth and young adults. For heart disease, physicians see early damage in most young smokers, and those most sensitive die very young. Smoking during youth and adolescence slows down lung growth.

“The evidence in the new Surgeon General’s report clearly demonstrates the need for intensified and sustained efforts to prevent our young people from using tobacco,” said Miranda Spitznagle, director, Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Commission.

“We know what works: comprehensive efforts that include mass media campaigns, 100-percent smoke-free laws in restaurants, bars and worksites, high cigarette prices, evidence-based school programs, and sustained community-wide efforts. We must redouble our efforts to protect the young people in Indiana.”

Terre Haute has one of the most protective smoke-free air laws in the state. By eliminating smoking in all public places, including restaurants, bars and private clubs, the city is poised to become a leader in the state.

“This policy truly makes Terre Haute ‘A Level Above’ by giving a successful model to other cities within the state as they structure their own smoke-free policies,” Hazel said.

Indiana has had success against tobacco, such as:

• Smoking among adults is a historic low of 21 percent in 2010, a decrease from 27 percent in 2001

• Youth smoking has declined from 32 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2011

These declines in smoking mean there are 258,000 fewer Hoosier smokers

For help quitting smoking call 1-800-QUIT NOW. For more information on tobacco control efforts in Terre Haute and Vigo County, contact Hazel at (812) 232-5190 or visit Smoke Free Vigo County on Facebook.

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