Jump to full article: Deseret News, 2008-05-07
Author: Deseret News editorial
Intro: A new study published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine suggests other benefits for youth. Massachusetts children who live in towns with strict restaurant smoking bans were 40 percent less likely to become regular smokers than their peers in communities with no bans or weak ones, according to the study.
. . .
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of smoking among high school students has been declining since 1997. The CDC attributes the decrease to national mass media campaigns, school-based anti-smoking efforts as well as significant increases in the retail price of cigarettes.
It is important that this trend continue because fewer people taking up the smoking habit means fewer people will suffer and die from smoking-related illnesses. Government agencies, community organizations, schools and parents must continue to impress upon youth the negative health and social impacts of tobacco use.
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