|
Preventing tobacco use among youth is critical to ensuring healthy adults, because tobacco use and subsequent addiction most frequently take root in adolescence. Cigarette smoking is a major contributor to such conditions as heart disease; cancers of the lung, larynx, mouth, esophagus and bladder, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
More than 20 percent of all deaths in the United States are attributable to tobacco, making tobacco use the chief preventable cause of death. Teens who smoke are also more likely than nonsmokers to use alcohol, marijuana and cocaine. Colorado health advocates are very concerned about the influence of tobacco on youth because of the positive image of smoking that cigarette advertisers project to teens and because the nicotine in tobacco is so highly addictive.
Addiction symptoms include strong urges to smoke, anxiety, irritability and failure to quit- can appear within weeks or even days after occasional smoking begins. This means that the younger people are when they first try smoking, the higher their chances of becoming regular smokers and the less likely they are to quit successfully.
 |
|
 |
| |
BEST PRACTICES
- Parents: Ninety percent of adult smokers start smoking by the age of 18. Parents can give children specific facts about the effects of tobacco on health; discuss the subject of smoking when it appears on TV, in newspapers or in advertisements in magazines; focus on peer pressure and specific ways to deal with it; tell children and youth that you don't want them to smoke, and model good habits by not using tobacco or trying to quit.
- Schools: Schools should not allow tobacco use on school grounds- a law, passed by the Colorado legislature in 1994, requires districts to institute policies banning any tobacco use. Assistance is available to all Colorado schools interested in implementing tobacco prevention programs and the American Lung Association NOT (Not On Tobacco) cessation program; and to all Colorado colleges and universities wanting to implement tobacco programs.
- Community: "Get R!EAL" (Resist! Expose Advertising Lies) empowers youth ages 12 to 17 to engage in grassroots activism aimed at challenging and changing social norms that support youth tobacco use, get information at
getrealcolorado.com.
A mobile marketing campaign-the Get R!EAL Road Tour travels across the state, reaching youth where they naturally congregate. Colorado Quitline, 800-639-QUIT (7848) is a free telephone counseling service connecting youth age over 15 who want to quit smoking.
Colorado QuitNet is a free Internet-based tobacco cessation service.
|
Helpful Links:
Healthy Kids Colorado Survey Results
Colorado Best Practices Website
Own Your C Cessation Campaign
State Tobacco Education and Prevention Program for Youth and Young Adults
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
