teen smoking

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Big Tobacco Not Thrilled With UK PM's Latest Push

Rishi Sunak's plan for progressively rising smoking age would effectively bar younger generation

(Newser) - If you're a British middle schooler looking forward to the day when you can wander into a Tesco and legally pick up a pack of cigarettes, you have a long wait ahead—as in forever, if Rishi Sunak's plans come to fruition. Per the AP , the UK prime...

Only 1 in 9 US Adults Still Smokes Cigarettes

Rate hit an all-time low last year

(Newser) - US cigarette smoking dropped to another all-time low last year, with 1 in 9 adults saying they were current smokers, according to government survey data released Thursday. Last year, the percentage of adult smokers dropped to about 11%, down from about 12.5% in 2020 and 2021. The survey findings...

New Zealand Has Unusual Way to Get Nation to Quit Smoking

Anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, is banned from buying tobacco—ever in their lifetime

(Newser) - New Zealand is trying to set a path for the nation to eventually eliminate smoking, and it's got an ambitious plan to do so. ABC Australia reports on a new law that bans young people now—or ever—from buying tobacco products, with lawmakers in Parliament passing the new...

French Teens Can Now Smoke in School
French Teens Can Now Smoke in School
Mar 17, 2016 12:17 PM CDT

French Teens Can Now Smoke in School

Officials say they're an easy target for terrorists when outside

(Newser) - Smoking is officially banned in schools in France, where the legal smoking age is 18, yet even underage high school students easily get away with the habit. One 15-year-old tells the Guardian he takes three smoke breaks a day on his school's playground, where he's encouraged to smoke...

High School E-Cigarette Use Triples—Again

More teens are smoking hookahs than traditional cigarettes

(Newser) - You're a lot more likely to find high school and middle school students using electronic cigarettes or even hookahs than traditional cigarettes, according to a new CDC report. Among high schoolers, cigarette use dived from more than 13% to 9.2% in 2014, but the use of e-cigarettes tripled...

Wash. State Could Be First to Bump Smoking Age to 21

Bill would make tobacco age same as pot age

(Newser) - You have to be 21 to legally buy marijuana in Washington, and the state is thinking about bringing in the same age limit for tobacco. The state's attorney general—saying "We must do more to protect our youth from tobacco's grip"—introduced a proposal this week...

Colorado, Utah Propose: Under 21? No Smokes

More votes needed in states with already low smoking rates

(Newser) - Colorado and Utah are taking a page from Michael Bloomberg's book : Both states have moved to raise the smoking age to 21, following a similar bill passed in New York City last fall. The proposals were given the initial go-ahead yesterday, and though more votes are needed, this is...

Buying Smokes in New York? Better Be 21

City council-approved measure includes e-cigarettes

(Newser) - New York's city council has voted to hike the legal age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said he'll sign the bill. It will make New York the only major US city to approve such a measure, the New York Times notes,...

Those Gross Cigarette Warnings? Teens Don't Care

Non-smoking teens do, though, UK study finds

(Newser) - Does putting a photo of a cancerous lung or rotting teeth on a cigarette pack really deter young people from smoking? Not for teens who already smoke, finds a new UK study—though they can have some effect in non-smokers and occasional smokers. The study of 2,800 teens aged...

Number of Teens Puffing on E-Cigs Doubles

One in 10 high schoolers report trying them, and right now, that's legal

(Newser) - The number of teenagers who at least tried an electronic cigarette doubled last year, with one in 10 doing so, according to new figures from the CDC. "This is really taking off among kids," the CDC's director tells the New York Times . Middle schools saw a jump,...

86% of Teens Say Peers Smoke, Do Drugs ... at School
86% of Teens Say Peers Smoke, Do Drugs ... at School
survey says
Aug 22, 2012 11:51 AM CDT

86% of Teens Say Peers Smoke, Do Drugs ... at School

New survey finds drugs are widely available at schools

(Newser) - Not only are teens drinking and doing drugs, they're drinking and doing drugs at school. Some 86% of US high-schoolers say their peers use alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs "during the school day on or near school grounds," according to the head of a group that ran...

Smoking in a Movie? Give It an 'R' Rating
 Smoking in a Movie? 
 Give It an 'R' Rating 
in case you missed it
Jul 14, 2012 12:20 PM CDT

Smoking in a Movie? Give It an 'R' Rating

Doing so will cut down on teen smoking: study

(Newser) - Kids who see actors smoking tobacco in movies are more likely to try cigarettes—so any film with a smoking scene should get an R rating, a new study suggests. Researchers surveyed children ages 10 to 14 and found that two-thirds of the smoking scenes they saw were in PG-13...

Teens Picking Pot Over Cigarettes
Teens Picking Pot
Over Cigarettes
for first time since 1981
Dec 15, 2010 10:32 AM CST

Teens Picking Pot Over Cigarettes

Drug czar blames Prop 19, medical marijuana for rise

(Newser) - Marijuana use is up again among teens, rising for the first time in nearly a decade—and President Obama’s drug czar blames California’s legalization measure Proposition 19 , among other things. A new government survey found that 21.4% of high school seniors said they smoked pot in the...

Why All Movies With Smoking Should Be Rated R
Why All Movies With Smoking Should Be Rated R
OPINION
Aug 28, 2010 9:18 AM CDT

Why All Movies With Smoking Should Be Rated R

If it will cut down on teen smoking, why wouldn't we?

(Newser) - Between 2005 and 2009, tobacco use in top-grossing movies declined by almost half—and that same time period also showed a notable decline in the number of high school students trying cigarettes. Coincidence? Probably not—which is why the CDC is calling for all films with tobacco use to be...

Flavored Cig Ban Is Silly: Kids Don't Smoke Them

What's more, FDA's claims about teen smoking are preposterous: Chapman

(Newser) - The FDA is all over the map—and all wrong—with its ban on flavored cigarettes, writes Steve Chapman. The agency touts the move against the “gateway” tobacco products, saying it will break the cycle of addiction “for the more than 3,600 young people who start smoking...

US Ban on Flavored Cigarettes Kicks In

FDA measure aimed at curbing 'gateway' brands that get teens hooked

(Newser) - The new federal ban on flavored cigarettes took effect today, marking one of the first visible signs of the Food and Drug Administration's new authority to regulate tobacco. The ban on manufacturing, importing, marketing and distribution includes candy-, fruit- and clove-flavored cigarettes, which health authorities say are more appealing to...

Menthol Used to 'Hook' Young Smokers: Study

Menthol cigarettes go down easier with youngsters

(Newser) - Tobacco companies use menthol to make the taste of cigarettes more acceptable to young first-time smokers until they become addicted, a new study charges. Researchers found that 44% of child smokers used menthol cigarettes, reports Reuters. "Menthol stimulates the cooling receptors in the lungs," said an expert from...

Percentage of Teen Smokers Holds Steady at 20%

Lack of progress in recent years worries health officials

(Newser) - The number of teens who smoke has stopped declining, and anti-smoking activists worry that complacency is setting in, the Washington Post reports. The latest survey shows that 20% of kids between the ages of 13 and 17 light up, a figure that has generally held steady since 2003. It remains...

Machines Join Japanese Anti-Smoking Effort

Face-scanning system could help ensure buyers are of age

(Newser) - New face-scanning software may help Japanese vending machines decide who can buy cigarettes and who can't, Reuters reports. The system would look for wrinkles and saggy skin to identify customers over the legal smoking age of 20. As of July, vendors are on the hook for checking ID, and the...

Bans Keep Teens From Lighting Up

Restaurant prohibitions seen to influence how youngsters see smoking: study

(Newser) - Restaurant smoking bans are effective at discouraging teen smoking, the AP reports. Studying Massachusetts because of its patchwork of local smoking restrictions, researchers found that teens living in places with strict bans were 40% less likely to become smokers. Local laws didn’t change how many experimented with cigarettes, but...

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