Millions of Americas still smoke–even with all the warning signs they still puff away. Desiree Ferguson started four years ago and her new year’s resolution is to quit. “Yea, my resolution,” Desiree said with a laugh. “It started the 2nd but it didn’t work.” But what if the cigarettes Desiree smoked were safer? Researchers at Cornell University may have found a way by using natural antioxidant extracts in cigarette filters. They found that lycopene and grape seed extract reduced the amount of cancer-causing free radicals that passed through the filter.

Texas Health Plano pulmonologist Dr. Christopher Blewett said he found the study interesting but he’s not convinced.

“There really is no such thing as a safer cigarette,” Dr. Blewett said. “A cigarette is a drug delivery device for nicotine.”

Researchers used a machine that simulates puffing a cigarette–plant antioxidants were put into modified filters which were found to have the best scavenging impact on toxins.

The hope is that someday the process can be cost effective enough to make cigarette smoking safer.

Dr. Blewett said that bottom-line tobacco companies would probably be on board but cautions that the last safer cigarette-the low tar cigarette aimed at women– proved to be just the opposite.

“Those low tar cigarettes that again were supposed to be safer, people compensated for the reduced nicotine by smoking more intensely, smoking more cigarettes and smoking longer.”

Dr. Blewett added that the extra effort allowed more cancer causing agents into the lungs.

Manson Miller has smoked for 20 years and said he’d give a safer cigarette a shot.

“It would be easier than quitting,” Manson said. “A lot easier than quitting.”

Just ask Desiree whose new year’s resolution is already up in smoke.

“I would try it,” Desiree said. “I’d probably try it but a cigarette is a cigarette to me.”

Someday–maybe even a safer one.

Teenage smoking declined for the fourth consecutive year during 2011, according to the annual Monitoring the Future study released Wednesday. The smoking rate was at 18.7 percent for 12th-graders, the lowest in the 36-year history of the study, which is conducted by University of Michigan researchers. The study measures tobacco usage over a 30-day period. By comparison, the smoking rate among 12th-graders was 19.2 percent in 2010 and 29.5 in 2001. Nearly 20 percent of adult Americans smoke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study included about 47,000 eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders from about 400 schools.

“This is very good news for the health and longevity of these young people,” said Lloyd Johnston, principal investigator of the study. “Even a reduction of only one percentage point can translate into thousands of premature deaths being prevented.”

Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said that the overall decline in teen smoking during 2011 was welcome news because the rate of decline had nearly stalled in recent years.

Myers said a further reduction in teen smoking will require elected officials to continue to push for “higher tobacco taxes, well-funded tobacco prevention and cessation programs that include mass media campaigns, strong smoke-free laws and effective regulation of tobacco products and marketing.”

The study also showed marijuana use is becoming more popular among U.S. teenagers, including reaching a 30-year high among 12th -graders at 22.6 percent. Synthetic marijuana, which became illegal in North Carolina on July 1, was added to the marijuana category in 2011.

However, alcohol use reached a historically low level of 40 percent in 2011. The study also found energy drinks are consumed by about 33 percent of teens, with the highest use among eighth- and 10th-graders.

Health and tobacco-industry officials have paid close attention to smokeless tobacco use in the past five years to determine whether overall tobacco use is declining or just shifting to other options.

The study found 8.3 percent of 12th-graders used the products within a 30-day period, down from 8.5 percent in 2010, but still up from a low of 6.1 percent in 2006.

The rate of use among eighth-graders was at 3.5 percent, down from 4.1 percent in 2010, while the use among 10th-graders dropped to 6.6 percent from 7.5 percent in 2010.

Most researchers and analysts said that it is too soon to tell whether the combination of new smokeless-tobacco products, particularly from subsidiaries of Reynolds American Inc., and recent advertising in magazines played a prominent role in the increases.

Among the more outspoken proponents of smokeless-tobacco products as reduced-risk alternatives has been Bill Godshall, executive director of SmokeFree Pennsylvania.

Godshall praised the decrease in teen smoking as “excellent news.” Besides most of the initiatives cited by Myers, Godshall also supports raising the smoking age to 19.

“It appears that more youth smokers, like adult smokers, are beginning to substitute smokeless tobacco for cigarettes,” Godshall said. “Since cigarettes are 100 times more hazardous than smokeless tobacco, public health benefits every time a smoker switches to smokeless, regardless of age.”

Dr. John Spangler, a professor of family and community medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, said he remains concerned by the level of teens using smokeless tobacco products. Spangler is conducting a National Cancer Institute study that’s aimed at developing strategies to encourage reduced use or even quitting smokeless-tobacco products. Wake Forest received a $2.9 million grant for its study.

“What will happen to these smokeless tobacco users is a huge concern because a strong predictor of future smoking is past smokeless tobacco use,” Spangler said.

We have heard it all before: Smoking is bad for you, smoking will kill you. And yes, this is true, but it does not stop everyone from smoking. Today alone, about 3,500 youths will smoke their first cigarette. Of those teenagers, 20 percent will never quit. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, eventually, nearly 1,000 of them will die as a result of the decision they make to smoke today.

Youths know the risks. From a young age, they are told to “just say no” and are shown pictures of smokers’ lungs. Unfortunately, anti-smoking education is not that simple. At least for some youths whose curiosity gets the best of them, or who feel weakened by peer pressure. Besides the obvious risks of lung cancer, the surgeon general reports teenagers who smoke are:

Three times more likely to use alcohol
Eight times more likely to smoke marijuana
And 22 times more likely to use cocaine

Also, if the youth has two parents who smoke, he or she is more than twice as likely to smoke as a youth whose parents do not smoke. It has become a generational habit, just as much as an addiction.

It is not as simple as “just one” cigarette when addiction is involved, especially when youths are facing those statistics. For teens who pick up the habit, they will have a more difficult time quitting, have more health-related problems and will most likely die earlier than a person who begins later in life.

There are a few other popular forms of smoking parents need to be aware of. Hookahs have become extremely popular among teens and young adults. Hookahs are essentially water pipes used to smoke tobacco through a hose. Contrary to popular belief, hookahs are not harmless. In fact, many doctors believe hookahs are just as dangerous as cigarettes because they do not have filters and are often used for longer periods of time. The tobacco “gunk” can settle in the hose of the hookah, as well as find its way into the user’s lungs.

Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are another alternative to the traditional cigarette. This battery-operated, tobacco-less stick is filled with nicotine flavor and other chemicals, which still may contain carcinogens. They also have not been evaluated the U.S. Food and Drug Administration so they are not required to have warnings to make their users aware of the possible effects.

I appreciate the smoking ordinances that have been put into place in the past 20 years for the mere fact I am no longer forced to inhale secondhand smoke or smell like an ashtray after being in public with smokers.

However, I think because of these ordinances, we have developed an inaccurate perception of the size of the smoking population, especially when it comes to teens. Because smoking is illegal for minors, I think “closet smoking” teens are often forgotten because they are even less visible than adult smokers.

Hillary Krantz is a program manager at Youth Resources of Southwestern Indiana. Since 1987, Youth Resources has engaged over 145,000 youths in leadership development and community service through its youth-led TEENPOWER, Teen Advisory Council, Teen Court and Make A Difference Grant programs.

More Drewids than ever may be blowing smoke. Though more college students than ever smoke, only a handful of Drew students list themselves as smokers. According to an Aug. 8 ABC News article, a Harvard School of Public Health survey of 14,000 students nationwide found one third of students to be current tobacco users. According to the survey, the number of cigarette smokers increased from 22 percent in 1993 to 28 percent in 1997—a 6 percent increase—and that percentage is still rising.

Only seven out of 420 first-year Drew students—about 1.6 percent—self-identified as smokers, however, according to a survey of the first-year housing applications for the class of 2015.

Four out of the 32 first-year transfer students at Drew—12.5 percent—listed themselves as smokers.

Though the percentage is higher, it is still low as compared to the national average. Undergraduate Housing Coordinator Bob Meade, who matches students every year based on whether they smoke, explained that there is an unwillingness to call oneself a “smoker.”

Several Drew students guessed the number of cigarette smokers on campus was significantly higher.

“I think half of the students here smoke and half don’t,” Michael Tyler-Smith (’15), who identifies himself as a non-smoker, said.

Zeezee Blair (‘15) agreed, estimating that 40 to 50 percent of Drew students are smokers. She said that a smoker is “someone who has at least one cigarette a day.”

She said that “more [students] than I expected smoke.”

Alexa Morrissey (’14) guessed that “at least half” of students smoke cigarettes at Drew.

She said that she sees many students out with their friends smoking during weekends, and added that a lot of students may not be habitual smokers, but social smokers.

Carolina Caicedo (’15) placed her guess a bit lower, at 30 percent. “[There are] enough for me to notice that people are smoking,” she said.

She explained that she did not include social smokers in her guess. “Smokers do it as a habit in their everyday life,” she said. According to the ABC News article, researchers attribute the rise in smoking to successful marketing campaigns that pushed smoking as “trendy.” Many Drew students disagreed and listed different reasons for smoking. Tommy Saxton (’13) explained that his primary trigger for starting to smoke as a 10-year-old was stress from his childhood.

He said, however, that he didn’t consider himself a smoker until the age of 16—when he started funding his own cigarettes.

“People told me it would relax me,” he said. “It helped occupy my time. Now it’s more of a habit.”

Saxton also cited social reasons for smoking. “It’s probably the biggest reason I have the majority of my friends,” he said.

According to Saxton, the media did not influence his smoking habits in any way.

Blair, who smokes about one and a half packs per week, said that she started smoking after living in the Middle East at 16 years old because it was such a common habit there.

She said that everyone around her smoked and her father smokes as well. She also cited the anxiety relief that comes from smoking as a reason for taking up cigarettes. When asked if she self-identified as a smoker on her freshman housing application, she said, “no, because I thought I was going to quit.”

According to Blair, after arriving at Drew and finding other smokers, she decided not to quit.

Tyler-Smith said he thinks students take up smoking for social reasons and stress relief as well.

He also described smokers as having the ability to take “quick, stress-relieving breaks” throughout the day.

Teen boys who exercise are more likely to quit smoking than those who receive only anti-smoking advice, according to a new study. Exercise doesn’t have a comparable effect on teenage girls who smoke, however, and researchers don’t know why. The American study, published last week in the journal Pediatrics, took place in West Virginia, where roughly a third of all high-school students are smokers. It was sparked by previous studies which found that in adults, exercise — even if it’s just a walk around the block — can help curb smoking by easing withdrawal symptoms and controlling cravings.

For young smokers, it’s crucial to break the habit before adulthood. Studies show that beginning smoking as a teenager makes it much more difficult to quit later on. About 80pc of adult smokers began their habit before turning 18.

The study’s researchers recruited 233 smokers aged 14 to 19, and gave one group of students a single smoking-cessation session, while a second group went through a 10-week anti-smoking course. A third group went through an anti-smoking course and were given pedometers and counselling on starting an exercise plan.

After three months, the study found that only 5pc of the students who got the single anti-smoking session had quit smoking. Yet almost twice as many who went through the 10-week programme had quit.

Yet when exercise was added to the mix, the effect on boys was remarkable: 24pc of male students in the exercise group quit smoking.

The teenage girls in the exercise group were no more likely to have quit smoking than those who received only counselling, however.

A study by a San Diego State University researcher found that cigarette sales to minors has dropped to a record low in California. The study results were announced Thursday by the state Department of Public Health, which contracted with SDSU psychology professor Elizabeth A. Klonoff to conduct the annual, federally-mandated survey. The 2011 Youth Tobacco Purchase Survey shows that 5.6 percent of the California retailers chosen randomly for the study illegally sold cigarettes to minors.

That rate was the lowest since the survey started in 1995, when 37 percent of retailers made the sale. In 2010, the rate of sales to minors was 7.7 percent.

“We are proud that fewer retailers are selling cigarettes to minors, but we have more work to do to guarantee that all kids in California grow up tobacco-free,” said Dr. Ron Chapman, director of the state Department of Public Health.

Klonoff’s study hired 15- and 16-year-old decoys to try to buy cigarettes at more than 800 stores chosen in a random sample from the 37,000 tobacco retailers in the state.

While the overall rate of sales to minors was down, results varied widely depending on the type of store.

Delis and meat markets were the biggest offenders, with 11.6 percent selling cigarettes to teen decoys, compared to 8.1 percent of supermarkets, 6.5 percent of tobacco stores, 4.9 percent of convenience stores and 1.3 percent of liquor stores.

Selling tobacco to minors is illegal in California and retailers are subject to fines ranging from $200 to $6,000.

Klonoff has done the study since 1996 and said the results didn’t surprise her, since teen smoking rates also have been in decline. “The sales data actually tracks separate data on kids’ smoking rates really well,” she said.

Klonoff said her study doesn’t show whether teens are getting cigarettes from older friends or perhaps stealing them as store clerks get savvier about not selling to minors. She said that could be the topic of a later study.

Teens enjoying the sunshine Thursday in the smoke pit near Fountain Park Pool shared a puff or two with their friends and openly discussed their nicotine habit as they pooh-poohed the idea anti-smoking campaigns work. “Everyone smokes,” said Jeffrey Runnalls, 16, a student at Outreach High School. “All my friends smoke and most have been smoking since Grade 7 or 8. I bet there’s 100 kids out smoking here every day.”

A Health Canada survey that was conducted in 2010 and released this week shows that 17 per cent of Alberta teens aged 15 to 17 smoked. That’s up five per cent from the previous year, when 12 per cent of Albertan teens said they smoked cigarettes.

The Canadian Tobacco Use survey also showed Albertan youths bucked the national trend, where only 12 per cent of teens 15 to 17 years old admitted to being smokers.

The local teens agreed several of their peers do smoke, but they were as perplexed as everyone else as to why.

“Maybe it’s because our parents smoke. My parents and my sister all smoke,” said one girl, who would not give her name.

The nameless teen, a Paul Kane Grade 11 student, said her first smoke was one she snitched in Grade 7 from her mother’s pack of cigarettes.

The girl, like many in the crowd, also admitted that she wished she’d never started.

“It costs too much money. It makes it hard to breathe. I quit once for three weeks so I could play rugby. It was too hard, so I quit rugby,” she said.

Shane Vanderkracht, also from Paul Kane, said he and several friends started smoking in Grade 7 after an older student supplied them with cigarillos.

“I think he got them from his parents,” Vanderkracht said.

None of the students near Fountain Park Pool was old enough to legally purchase cigarettes.

“We use fake ID or you get an older kid or an older sibling or sometimes our parents to get them for you,” one Grade 11 student said.

Peer pressure was the leading reason given for starting to smoke, but some of the youths speculated that all the publicity against smoking had the opposite effect upon them, and instead made them want to try it.

“I know right after we attended D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, all of us started smoking. They gave us the stats. They gave us the knowledge. We wanted to try what they were telling us was so bad,” said Vanderkracht.

Several students agreed with Vanderkracht’s theory as one girl added, “If they didn’t make such a big deal of it all the time, maybe kids wouldn’t do it. Besides it’s cool! It’s rebellion!”

The students also speculated about why more Alberta teens appeared to be smokers compared to their national counterparts.

“I think it’s money. We have more money,” one boy said.

That particular teen also refused to give his name as he shared one cigarette with two other students. The three friends admitted that purchasing smokes was a perpetual problem. They all had jobs, which provided them with some of the cash they required to pay $11.25 per package. But they also doubted whether raising the price of cigarettes would deter teens from smoking.

“If cigarettes went up, say, to $30, there would be a riot,” said Runnalls.

Runnalls has thought about the various health risks of using tobacco products and decided cigarettes were the best choice for him.

“Chewing tobacco might give you cancer of the lip or tongue, where everyone could see it, whereas cigarettes are more likely to cause lung cancer, which can’t be seen. And cigarillos taste awful after a while, and besides, cigarettes are cheaper,” he said.

When the graphic anti-smoking art on their cigarette packages was shown to them, the smoke-pit teens were unanimous in voicing one firm idea.

“Just don’t look at them!”

“I’m more worried about cellphones giving me brain cancer,” said one Grade 12 student. “When you do a survey about cellphones, come talk to me. Then I’ll talk.”

About 37 percent of teens in Cook County suburbs have had sex, according to a survey by the Cook County Department of Public Health. The survey looked at teens’ experience with sex, drugs and violence and found some interesting, albeit somewhat sad facts. About 40 percent of teens reported having smoked cigarettes, and 33 percent say they’d smoked marijuana. About 2 percent of students said they’d tried heroin, and cocaine and ecstasy were each around 5 percent.

About 7 percent of teens said they’d been forced to have sex against their will, and 6 percent of the teens said they had sex before age 13. Public health spokeswoman Amy Poore said the study shows a need for better sex education programs in suburban Cook County schools. The Sun-Times writes:
“Most schools don’t have comprehensive sex education and are teaching abstinence only, but clearly we have a high amount of students who are engaging in sexual activity,” Poore said.
The survey also showed that within the last year, about 9 percent of teens had attempted suicide. About 13 percent of all students had considered attempting suicide.
This Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey was the first survey of its kind for suburban Cook County. We were unable to find a similar studies from previous years to see if this is an increase or decrease since previous years.

Maine has been awarded a $2.1 million three-year federal contract to help crack down on the sale of cigarettes to minors. The Maine Attorney General’s Office is scheduled to formally announce the compliance and enforcement contract during a news conference Monday morning at the Calumet Club in Augusta. A representative of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which awarded the funding, will be in Augusta that day for a forum on tobacco compliance.

Anti-tobacco efforts and cigarette tax increases drove a 64 percent decline in Maine’s teen smoking rate between 1997 and 2007. But the percentage of teens who smoke in Maine started rising again in 2009.