Teen smoking down, seat belt use up in state 

Fewer Montana high school students are smoking, and more are wearing seat belts in vehicles, according to a survey of 1,800 high school students in the state this spring.

The 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, conducted in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also found a smaller percentage of Montana students trying the drugs marijuana and methamphetamine than in the past. . . .

Smoking: The 2009 survey found 50 percent of Montana high school students had tried smoking cigarettes, down from 73 percent in 1997.

"We think it shows a very important trend about students' lifetime health," Kendall said, praising OPI and the state health department's tobacco-prevention efforts.

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