December 18, 2014 – Tobacco Use in Kids

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Anchor lead: More middle and high schoolers are using tobacco products, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Data from the national youth tobacco survey was released recently, and the results were sobering at best.  Enid Neptune, a lung expert at Johns Hopkins, describes the results for high school students.

Neptune: What they found among the high school kids is that 23% of them reported current or active use of tobacco products. And 13% reported use of two or more types of tobacco products.   :14

Neptune says middle schoolers, too, reported increased use of tobacco products, and in the long term, that’s not good news.

Neptune: Nine out of ten of chronic tobacco users or people who are smoking into their fifties or sixties started under the age of 18. And what that tells us is that every company that makes either conventional cigarettes or e-cigarettes or any of these other tobacco products has to target youth as part of their business plan.   :19

Neptune says steps must be taken to prevent tobacco companies from targeting youth with an eye toward addicting a new generation.  At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.