Anti-smoking efforts target teens as well as adults

It doesn't take a lifetime of smoking to want to quit.

The onslaught of people resolving to stop using tobacco on Jan. 1 will include young adults and even teens, said Gary White, a tobacco prevention specialist with Tobacco Free Partnership Hillsborough.

"Teens can struggle to quit, depending on how long and how much" they used tobacco, he said.

An estimated 11.9 percent of the state's high school students and 3.5 percent of middle school students smoked cigarettes in the last 30 days, according to the state's 2011 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey. Close to 5 percent of all high school students say they smoke frequently.

"I would be pleased if they were making resolutions about quitting," White said.

Addiction doesn't have age limits, which is why Tobacco Free Florida's 24-hour smoking cessation hot-line prepares for calls from people as young as 11. The American Cancer Society's Quit Now line is ready to work with smokers age 13 and older.

The quit coaches, who are on the phone or online, learn about the smoker's habits and suggest age-appropriate strategies. For example, prescription drugs or patches might not be necessary for a youth, White said.

Florida's teen smoking rates are lower than national totals released recently in an annual survey from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the University of Michigan. The 2011 Monitoring the Future report shows that 18.7 percent of high school seniors smoked in the last 30 days.

Though the number of teens smoking is its lowest since 1975, officials warn that these national declines are slower than in the past. Starting as a youth is risky, as nine out of every 10 adult smokers started using tobacco as a teen, Tobacco Free Florida reports.

It also doesn't help that tobacco companies still target young people for their products, which are known to cause cancer, Hillsborough's White said. He points in particular to efforts to sell fruit and candy-flavored cigarillos and snuff products, known as Snus.

This year, tobacco prevention advocates got both the Hillsborough County Commission and Tampa City Council to pass resolutions that encourage retailers to avoid selling these kid-friendly products to teens.

White said it's important that teens – and adults – who use tobacco know the health danger involved. It doesn't matter if they choose to use cigarettes, Snus or a hookah, all are dangerous, he said.

"You need to educate them on the effects," he said.