TEENS & SMOKING –

What’s the Attraction?

By Jack Etzel

For what was once a smoky city, Pittsburgh is breathing better. Nationwide 21% of Americans smoke. Allegheny County’s latest figures show that only 16% are smokers. A lingering problem, however, is the younger residents who are getting hooked on nicotine.

At the North Hills location of the American Lung Association of Pennsylvania, NHMM questioned LouAnn Haney about this problem. Ms. Haney’s title with the ALA of PA is Program Specialist. She trains people to facilitate programs in local communities, which include Freedom From Smoking (FFS), Not On Tobacco (NOT), a teen cessation program, Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU), a tobacco prevention program, Open Airways for Schools (OAS), an asthma education for school age children and other programs aimed at adults.

Ms. Haney was a school nurse in southern Maryland for 11 years, and has worked for the American Lung Association in both Ohio and Pennsylvania. Her most outstanding expertise just may lie in the fact that she is an ex-smoker and was up to three packs a day when she quit 15 years ago.

North Hills Monthly Magazine: When it comes to teens and tobacco, is the news today getting better or worse?

Haney: There has been a steady decline in youth tobacco use. However, the latest (December 2006) Monitoring the Future survey states that daily smoking in young people in their early and middle teens has recently stopped declining and has leveled off.

NHMM: At one time we were all young and foolish, but do we know why some kids – teens or younger – want to smoke?

Haney: I still have students tell me that smoking is “cool.” We know the smoking prevalence in movies is exaggerated, compared to the norm in society. And, teens frequent the movies more than any other age group. Teens may also feel that using tobacco is an act of rebellion against parents, teachers and authority in general.

NHMM: I’ve never known anyone who took up smoking in their thirties, so the habit must nearly always start much younger.

Haney: Smokers typically start in their teens or before that age. In the wake of a lot of lawsuits against tobacco companies the target audience of their advertising has changed focus. They have been found liable in advertising to teens. Now that there are no more television commercials for cigarettes, you’ll see that magazine ads and other still allowable advertising, including events promotions, are targeted directly at college-age people. The tobacco companies frequently host concerts and give away free samples in bars where older teens and younger 20s can be found.

NHMM: What is this hookah bar craze all about?

Haney: Well, that’s certainly another trend. This involves expensive water pipes that are filled with so-called “natural tobacco” that is not supposed to be as harmful as cigarettes. But make no mistake about it, there are serious health risks associated with hookah bars and the college connection. There is a misconception that this way of smoking is less dangerous than cigarettes, and that simply is not true. Carbon monoxide concentration found in the bloodstreams of water pipe smokers is up to four times the levels in cigarette smokers. The nicotine content in water pipe tobacco also is higher.

NHMM: Even if a parent is a cigarette smoker, can that parent have influence to help prevent his/her child from smoking?

Haney: This is a difficult question. The best thing the parent could do is quit smoking. There’s never a time when quitting is too late. If that is not going to be the case, they should at least be very frank with their child or children. Discuss the topic of smoking openly and honestly. They should stress that it is easier not to start using tobacco than it is to quit after becoming addicted. That addiction comes a whole lot faster than anyone thinks it will. I speak from experience on this subject. I would also encourage them to discuss with their children the reasons that they would like them to stay tobacco-free.

NHMM: As bans on cigarette smoking spread, are you concerned that some youngsters will turn to so-called “spit tobacco?”

Haney: I’m more than just concerned. There is a very clear trend that this is exactly what the tobacco companies are encouraging. I recently saw an advertisement in a Sports Illustrated that had a picture of a sports bar on one page and it said, “Is your favorite sports bar going smoke-free?” On the next page was an ad for chewing tobacco at that same sports bar. The tobacco companies have made a spitless chewing tobacco now and are flavoring it with different sweet flavors, so we are now finding that even teenage girls are beginning to use smokeless tobacco. In addition, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, smokeless tobacco contains 28 cancer causing agents and carries a particularly high risk for oral cancer. Of course, just like cigarettes, smokeless tobacco also leads to nicotine addiction and dependence.

NHMM: Anything else?

Haney: Yes. The United States has had the same four warnings on tobacco products since the 1960s. Canada and European countries have much better warnings. They’re quite graphic. We need a makeover and the sooner the better.

Note: ALA of PA offers speakers to address groups on lung health issues. The number at the North Hills Office (Wexford) is 724-933-6180.