| "Dimpy," as her friends call her, heard
about the hazards of smoking in health class. "They showed pictures of lungs of
people who smoked. It was gross," says the petite 14-year-old. Yet, as she shops
along the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif. , the ninth grader
points out all the places where she regularly buys cigarettes without hassle.
"All my friends smoke," She shrugs, explaining the habit she developed in the
sixth grade. "Once they pressure you, you start. And it's kind of hard to stop.
" As the cigarette industry draws increasing fire, teen smokers like Dimpy are becoming the focus of concerned policy makers around the country. Supported by a University of Michigan study showing a dramatic rise in adolescent tobacco use, the White House is considering ways to curb the surge. Among the options: eliminating cigarette vending machines, restricting tobacco advertising, increasing the federal excise tax on cigarettes and launching a national media campaign directed at adolescents. A grand jury in New York has begun an investigation to determine whether Philip Moms Cos. concealed information linking nicotine levels and addictiveness. And the Justice Department is looking into whether tobacco company executives committed perjury in their April 1994 congressional testimony on how smoking affects health. Lack of credibility. But it's tough to get an antismoking message through to teens. The California Department of Health Service spends $12 million a year placing antismoking commercials on television, including popular MTV programs, but many teenagers aren't buying the message. Says Erica leona, who will enter eighth grade in the fail, "I don't think those ads work, because It's like a cartoon, it's too exaggerated. " In fact, teens seem skeptical about the potential effectiveness of any organized efforts to reduce smoking, like increasing taxes. While research shows that every time taxes go up, sales go down, including among teens, young people say the cost is relatively low in comparison with.other vices. "You want weed, it'll cost you," says Robert Caldwell, 14. "For cigarettes, you just go anywhere, put 12 quarters into one of those machines, take it and go. " Other teens maintain that eliminating vending machines won't make cigarettes any harder to buy. "You give a guy enough to buy you a pack and a beer, and he'll buy the pack," says Cameron Davis, 13. And advertising isn't really what entices adolescents to smoke. For the most part, they say, teens smoke because of peer pressure. "It's like sex. " says 13-year-old Frances, who started smoking at age 9. "You feel like, if you don't do it with your boyfriend, he won't like you. " In addition, messages that relate to health don't compute with adolescents, who often feel invincible. It doesn't help, says Roxanne Cannon, editorial director of Teen and Sassy magazines, that so many teen idols such as Ethan Hawke, Jason Priestley and Luke Perry are seen smoking. Teens say any message is more effective if it's communicated by Other kids. But eyen a White House appeal made by Chelsea Clinton might not get through to adolescents eager to smoke. "I don't listen to my morn when she tells me to stop," says Dimpy. "Why would I listen to anyone else." |