Tobacco.org

• Donna E. Shalala: National Household Survey Press Conference 

The pattern was the same for cigarette use. Among teens, cigarette use decreased from 19.9 percent in 1997 to 15.9 percent in 1999. For the very first time, the survey also captured which cigarette brands were most popular among adolescents. More than half of white and Hispanic youth smokers reported Marlboro as their usual brand—while nearly three-quarters of African-American teen smokers reported that Newport is their first choice. Despite the declining numbers, all of us—parents, teachers, the government, media—still need to do more to help our young people see through the tobacco companies’ smokescreen of deceit. . .

To paraphrase the poet, we have miles to go in our journey to a drug free America. We have miles to go when 14.8 million Americans were current users of illicit drugs in 1999. And we have miles to go if even a single young person is letting his or her dreams—and life—go up in a cloud of marijuana or cigarette smoke.

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