Tobbaco Use Among Teens

p 3 TOBACCO USE AMONG TEENAGERS In the United States , tobacco use or cigarette smoking has been identified as the leading cause of preventable death . Almost half a million deaths annually have been associated to cigarette smoking . The prevalence of tobacco use by adolescents has intensified in the 1990s with the highest rates during 1996 to 1997 and then decreased thereafter (CDC , 1998 . If the pattern of tobacco use early on during adolescence ensues , this will result in around 5 million minors who will mature into adults that will experience smoking-related illness in

the future Medical expenses related to tobacco use have been estimated to cost approximately 50 to 73 billion annually . Such estimates have alarmed the healthcare agencies that they have created comprehensive smoking prevention programs to lessen smoking among adolescents

The of tobacco use among teenagers is related to the goals of Healthy People 2010 , which is a comprehensive collection of disease prevention and health education programs that was established by the United States Department of Health and Human Services . Healthy People 2010 was created by researchers and scientists to address the current issues in public health . The two main objectives of Healthy People 2010 is to improve the quality of life of the residents of the United States which will result in the prolongation of life expectancy , and to prevent any differences that are observed and reported with regards to different subgroups within the U .S . population

Massive anti-smoking campaign efforts were earlier initiated in to deflect young and curious teenagers from using tobacco . These efforts included outright health warnings regarding the serious effects of smoking that are to every pack of cigarettes . There was also the aggressive campaign to enhance distaste towards smokers convincing the rest of the society that smoking is not a good habit for members of the society , especially if the stench and stains of cigarette smoking will be physically to the smoker after a couple of months . In addition , legislation has required that a young-looking buyer should present his identification card in to prove that he is at least 18 years old before he is allowed to buy cigarettes from a vendor . Any vendor who is caught selling cigarettes to a minor has been warned that he could be penalized for providing addictive items to a minor . Unfortunately , all these efforts in dissuading the youth from tobacco use was unsuccessful , as shown in the increase in smoking cases among teenagers as well as admittance to tobacco use amidst all these smoking prevention efforts

Recent research surveys have determined that a generic smoking prevention program is not as effective as it was thought to be because each state and each school showed a different type of setting that strongly influences a typical adolescent to succumb to the pressure and lure of cigarette smoking . Variations in the factors that influence an adolescent to smoke are present at the levels of the country , state school , and individual (Lotrean et al , 2006...