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According to a new national study, American teenagers believe that smoking cigarettes is riskier than consuming alcohol or using illicit drugs. The study, conducted by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), included survey responses from 44,979 adolescents, aged 12-17, who took part in the 2007 and 2008 SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Study authors expressed concerns that teens may be more likely to experiment with alcohol or illegal substances if they believe that the risks associated with using drugs and alcohol are low. Pamela S. Hyde, SAMHSA administrator, said in a news release:

"We are on the right track with cigarette smoking and need to keep raising awareness among teens about the dangers of other substances. Understanding that perception of harm is a strong predictor of potential substance use among young people can help guide the development of substance prevention messages."

SAMHSA researchers found that perception of risk relating to cigarettes was fairly constant among all respondents. However, perception of risk with regard to alcohol and other substances varied widely by age and gender. For example, more than two-thirds (70 percent) of respondents believed smoking one or more packs of cigarettes per day to be a major health risk. By contrast, only 40 percent of respondents believed binge-drinking (consuming five or more drinks at a time once or twice per week) posed a major health risk.

(Source: businessweek.com)

Labels: cigarettes, teen smoking, teen substance abuse

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Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College recently published a study exploring the specific ways that parents and peers may influence teens to smoke, drink and use marijuana.

The results of the study indicate that teens' attitudes toward smoking influence their use of multiple drugs (smoking, drinking and marijuana), and that the influence is different between boys and girls. For girls, those with friends who were ambivalent or permissive of smoking were at greatest risk for using multiple substances. For boys, the greatest predictor of use of multiple substances was the extent to which they perceived that smoking was prevalent in their peer group.

Dr. Jennifer A. Epstein, lead author and assistant professor of public health in the Division of Prevention and Health Behavior at Weill Cornell, commented on the study's findings: "If a teenager feels smoking is socially acceptable and widely practiced, they are much more likely not only to smoke, but to also drink and possibly use marijuana ... While the differences between how boys and girls are influenced by these social factors are subtle, they could help us develop new gender-specific educational tactics for preventing these behaviors."

(Source: www.sciencedaily.com)

Labels: teen drinking, marijuana, teen smoking, teen substance abuse

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Experts warn that Staten Island teens may be facing a health crisis within the next few years if rates of substance abuse persist.

Recent statistics from the New York City Department of Health show that Staten Island's teen population has the highest rate of smoking, alcohol abuse and drug abuse in the city. According to data from the New York State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services, nearly three times as many Staten Islanders ages 13 to 30 sought help last year for prescription drug abuse than four years earlier.

Frances Magno, managing director of a local rehabilitation facility, commented on the care that teens will need if current trends persist: "They are going to need much more sophisticated care ... Kids are kids. They don't believe they have the ability to get illnesses or diseases. Reality doesn't touch them. 'Just say no' doesn't work with these kids."

(Source: www.silive.com)

Labels: prescription-drug-abuse, teen smoking, teen substance abuse

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On September 22, federal lawmakers banned flavored cigarettes. The ban applies to the manufacturing, importing, marketing and distribution of candy-, fruit- and clove-flavored cigarettes. Federal authorities initiated the ban on these particular products because recent research has found that flavored cigarettes are particularly appealing to youth.

Dr. Lawrence R. Deyton, director of the Federal Drug Administration's (FDA's) Center for Tobacco Products, cites recent research studies which have found that 17-year-old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over the age of 25. "Candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular tobacco users," he said.

The FDA also found that almost 90 percent of adult smokers start smoking as teenagers, and that the new ban may help stop the more than 3,600 young people who start smoking each day.

The ban does not apply to menthol-flavored cigarettes or flavored cigars, however the FDA is studying these products.

The FDA and other federal authorities are investigating efforts by makers of flavored cigarettes to side-step the new ban by making superficial changes to their products. In particular, the nation's top distributor of clove cigarettes -- California-based company Kretek International Inc. -- began rolling its clove cigarettes in tobacco rather than paper, making them more like small-sized cigars.

(Source: www.huffingtonpost.com)

Labels: cigarettes, teen smoking, smoking

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A new study in the September issue of the journal Pediatrics reports evidence that parents can negatively or positively influence whether their children become smokers. In particular, parents may play a large role in determining whether their adolescent children progress from experimenting with cigarettes in the eighth grade to daily smoking by the 12th grade.

The study included 270 adolescents who had begun smoking by the eighth grade but who were not yet daily smokers at that time. Of the participants, 156 (58 percent) became daily smokers by the 12th grade.

Min Jung Kim, a research scientist with the University of Washington's Social Development Research Group and lead author of the study, commented on the findings: "If parents smoke, teens have more access to cigarettes than teens who have non-smoking parents. A second preventive measure for smoking parents is to quit smoking themselves ... If parents really don't want their children to smoke they need to communicate that by establishing clear guidelines in their families about not smoking and discuss them with their school-age children."

(Source: insciences.org)

Labels: teen smoking, parents, smoking

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