Teens & smoking
Most people who become smokers start in their teens. Tobacco companies are desperate to get teens
hooked (addicted); as hundreds of thousands of adult smokers die off and quit, tobacco companies
need teens to start smoking, so the tobacco companies can stay in business. Teens need to know how
tobacco companies are targeting them, so they can fight back.
Some facts on teen smoking:
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Each day, between 82,000 and 99,000 young people around the world start smoking.
Smoking rates for youth climbed in the early 1990s, but have been slowly declining.
Almost 20 per cent of Canadian teens (aged 12-19) currently smoke (daily or occasionally).
In Canada, the smoking rates are generally higher among males than females.
On average, males smoke more cigarettes a day than females.
Youth smokers make more attempts to quit smoking than adult smokers.
Why do teens start smoking?
Teens give many reasons for why they start smoking:
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"My friends smoke."
"I just wanted to try it."
"I thought it was cool."
"My parents smoke."
One of the biggest reasons teens start to smoke is peer influence. Teenagers are more prone to peer
pressure. Over 70 per cent of teens say that having friends who smoke and/or peer pressure is the
number one reason for starting to smoke.
Another main reason that youth smoke is that adults do.
The tobacco industry targets you!
There's clear evidence that tobacco companies target children and teens in their marketing.
Why?
The tobacco industry is losing its customers. Smoking kills over 45,000 Canadians each year, and
thousands of other smokers are quitting. Tobacco companies need to recruit more smokers to take the
place of those who have died or quit. Most smokers choose their favourite brand of cigarettes and
become addicted to nicotine during their teens.
Smoking in the media
One way that tobacco companies target youth is through the media. The more teens see the actors
smoking on TV shows and in the movies, the more likely they'll try it themselves. According to one
non-profit group that studies smoking and movies, "Non-smoking teens whose favourite stars
frequently smoke on screen are sixteen times more likely to have positive attitudes about smoking in
the future." (Smoke Free Movies How Movies Sell Smoking
http://smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu/problem/bigtobacco.html
Tobacco companies know how influential the media can be. That's why tobacco companies have paid
movie producers hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote cigarettes in the movies - it's called
product placement. Tobacco companies paid to have the movie's stars smoke their brand of cigarettes
on screen. The companies knew that teens who like the stars would also begin to like the idea of
smoking, and show special interest in the brand of their favourite star. (Source: Smoke Free Movies,
Tobacco's secret History in Hollywood http://smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu/problem/bigtobacco.html )
Advertising to kids & teens
Companies use advertisements to sell their products. Before a company creates an advertisement, they
decide who should buy their product, and then they study these people. For example, toy companies
study young children to understand what they would like to see in a TV commercial.
The tobacco industry uses these same strategies to sell smoking to teens. They know what children and
youth want to hear, and they use this knowledge to sell you their products. In 1998, Canadian tobacco
companies spent an estimated $32 million on advertising.
Strategies tobacco companies use to target youth:
Cartoon character mascots: A U.S. tobacco company introduced the cartoon character Joe Camel,
who became widely known by youth between 1988 and 1991. The success of the Joe Camel character
was said to be directly responsible for the increase in cigarette sales from $6 million in 1988 to $476
million in 1991.
Promotional offers: Joe Camel ads once offered Joe Camel leather jackets, sandals and neon signs in
exchange for coupons from Camel cigarette packages. Youth had to smoke many packs of cigarettes to
receive these promotional materials.
Shifting the blame: Tobacco companies try to shift blame to youth who smoke instead of themselves.
Tobacco companies suggest that youth have a choice whether to smoke.
Making tobacco look cool: Nearly all of The Simpsons cartoon characters (including children) have
been seen smoking. Eighty-seven per cent of the top box office hits between 1988 and 1997 portrayed
tobacco use an average of five times per movie.
Showing tobacco use as an "adult" activity: Tobacco companies send the message that smoking is
for adults only but that a child can pretend to be grown-up by smoking
Fight back
You don't have to be fooled by tobacco companies' tactics. You have the power to resist this marketing
and stay smoke-free. You also have the power to become an advocate for a smoke-free society. Don't
underestimate the power and influence you have to make changes in your school and community. You
can help your friends to make the healthy choice not to smoke.
Cigarettes are made from TOBACCO a tall leafy plant that is grown almost everywhere in the world!
The tobacco plant contains a drug called nicotine. Nicotine is a deadly poison - it can kill a person in
less than an hour if even a small amount is injected into the blood-stream. Tobacco smoke contains
very tiny amounts of nicotine that aren't deadly, but are still very bad for your health.
Fast facts about nicotine
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Nicotine is an addictive drug that affects the brain and nervous system. At higher doses,
nicotine is a poison that has been used as an insecticide
Nicotine has a powerful effect on the brain and the central nervous system
Within seven seconds, about one-quarter of the nicotine has gone through your bloodstream
straight to the brain. The rest of the nicotine travels to other areas of the body
Nicotine causes a rise in heart rate and in the rate of breathing
Nicotine increases the tendency of the blood to clot and causes an increased need for oxygen,
which makes the heart work harder.
Tobacco smoke also contains over 4,000 chemicals, many of which are known causes of cancer. Just
a few of these chemicals are:
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Carbon Monoxide (found in car exhaust)
Arsenic (rat poison)
Ammonia (found in window cleaner)
Acetone (found in nail polish remover)
Hydrogen Cyanide (gas chamber poison)
Napthalene (found in mothballs)
Sulphur Compounds (found in matches)
Lead
Volatile Alcohol
Formaldehyde (used as embalming fluid)
Butane (lighter fluid)
When you smoke, all of these chemicals mix together and form a sticky tar. The tar sticks to clothing,
skin, and to the cilia (tiny hairs) that line the insides of your lungs. The cilia help to clean out dirt and
germs from your lungs. If the cilia are covered in tar, they can't do their job properly, and germs,
chemicals and dirt can stay in your lungs and cause diseases.
Second-hand smoke is also dangerous
Even if you yourself don't smoke, you can still get sick or die from tobacco. When you breathe the
smoke from another person's cigarette, it can be as bad as smoking cigarettes yourself.
How second–hand smoke hurts your health
Second-hand smoke seriously hurts your health. Researchers estimate that second-hand smoke kills at
least 1100 Canadians every year.1
Consider these facts:
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Second hand smoke exposure is the number two cause of lung cancer (smoking is the number
one cause)
Marrying a smoker increases your risk of heart disease
Just 30 minutes' exposure to second-hand smoke hardens your arteries (arteriosclerosis); more
exposure puts you at risk for heart problems
Smoking can increase your risk of miscarriage and stillbirths
Children born to smoking parents are generally:
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Smaller at birth
Have smaller heads
Are sickly as infants
Remain smaller than other children their age
Are more likely to have asthma, colds, the flu, and ear infections
Are more likely to have leukemia ( a type of cancer)
Children of smokers often don't do as well in school as children of nonsmokers.
!!!HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF!!!
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If you smoke - quit. It's never too late to quit. By quitting smoking, you will make yourself
and your family members healthier.
If you won’t quit smoking, cut down, and smoke only outdoors. Smoking outdoors still
means some smoke will come indoors; it comes inside on your clothes, hair and skin, and it
seeps through cracks in buildings and doors. But smoking outdoors is better for your family's
health than smoking inside the home or car.
Never smoke around pregnant women, infants, children and teenagers.
Don't allow smoke in your child's home, daycare, or the family car.
Keep your family members away from any place where people usually smoke – even if
they aren’t smoking while you’re there. Keep family members away from places people
usually smoke. This could include restaurants, relatives’ homes, cars, etc. The chemicals in
tobacco smoke get into curtains, carpets, toys, furniture, walls, car seats, clothing, skin, and
hair. They stick around long after the cigarettes have been put out. It's not enough that the
smoker doesn't light up when your child is there. If your child's in a room, house or car where
people usually smoke, she will be exposed to the harmful chemicals in smoke. This is known
as “third-hand” smoke.
Remember that opening a window, running a fan or air purifier, will not get rid of
second-hand smoke.