Kristopher Windsor
October 21, 2008
Health Science 01, TR 9:00A
Minors and Smoking: Peer Pressure and Long-term Consequences
Mrs. Mai
Minors and Smoking 1
Problem
Cigarette smoking is of primary importance, as a preventable leading cause of death.
Smoking is dangerously popular in some cultures, and among minors it is the cheap and popular
gateway drug, which transitions students to the harder drugs. Health problems from smoking
include cardiovascular disease, cancers in many parts of the body, and high blood pressure and
heart rate, which wear out the body. Eventually a complete smoking ban is the optimal solution,
although this is not yet a practical goal.
Community at Risk
Originally assuming young adults began smoking when they reached the legal age, I had
some misconceptions on the issue. Primarily, I wondered how they could make such a negative
choice at an age when they should be reasonably mature. Actually, many start smoking as
minors; Johnston, O’Malley, and Bachman note that 44% of eighth graders have tried smoking
(p. 15, 1993). Smoking is more prevalent at colleges than at high schools, but the primary
problem can be traced back to the schools. Consequently, this paper will look at underage
smoking.
Health Statistics
Powell, Tauras, and Ross released a study in 2005, and of the participants, who averaged
an age of 16, 25% of them had smoked in the last month. This 25% could account for most of the
adult smokers today, but the overlap is not calculated. The percentage of smoking minors should
be much less than the percentage of smoking adults, but it is not. A 1985 study (Johnston,
O’Malley, and Bachman, p. 14) reported that while 5% of smoking high-school seniors thought
they would quit within the next five years, 75% of them were, even nine years later. Health-
Minors and Smoking 2
related statistics are beyond the scope of this paper, but will definitely be important to high
school students who unintentionally end up smoking for the rest of their lives.
Influencing Social Factors
Peer pressure cannot be stressed enough. Other factors not only have limited effects, but
some can be rules out completely, and others even leave minors susceptible to peer pressure.
The legality of smoking must have little effect on the youth’s decision. Johnston,
O’Malley, and Bachman note that “initiation of daily smoking most often occurs in grades 6
through 9, with little further initiation after high school” (1993, p. 14). Since smoking is illegal at
this age, smoking isn’t necessarily chosen as a legal alternative other drugs. If legality was of
concern, people wouldn’t smoke until they were legally old enough.
Health problems must also have little effect because despite smoking warnings, according
to the same article, “only 53% [of eighth graders] say they think there is great risk associated
with being a pack-a-day smoker.” Minors have trivialized the perceived health risks - even
though must know smoking is somewhat detrimental to health.
If health and legality are disregarded so freely, what is the deciding factor for a minor to
start smoking? The answer, according to de Leeuw et al, is not pre-conceived attitudes toward
smoking (2008). While one may choose to smoke or not at an early age before they have an
opportunity to smoke, de Leeuw et al. argue that smoking attitudes are weak and subjective to
smoking behavior, rather than behavior being subject to attitudes. They support their argument
by showing that parents’ views on smoking have negligible control over the children’s eventual
choice.
This means young people in junior high and high school don’t have strong views against
smoking, or much consideration for their health or the law. Peer pressure can thus play a vital
Minors and Smoking 3
role. Different studies show different statistical effects of peer pressure, but Powell, Tauras, and
Ross (2005) bring the highest statistic: “Based on these estimates, our results imply that moving
a high-school student from a school where no children smoke to a school where one quarter of
the kids smoke would increase the probability that he or she smokes by about 14.5 percentage
points.” Other studies have rated the effect at 2.2%, 4.2%, and 11.8% (Clarke and Lohéac, 2006).
Specific quantification aside, there is a definite peer effect.
Recommendations
Other factors such as race and gender have been related to smoking, but ultimately these
cannot be changed. Peer pressure, although a difficult problem to cure, can be minimized. Family
support and anti-smoking enforcement is important because the law is evidentially not effective
enough. Where parents’ decisions against smoking have little influence on their children's
decisions, they can keep children away from situations where they may be enticed to smoke.
Also, as Powell et al. note, policies in places where peers meet are important: “For the youth
access and school-ban on smoking policy variables, our results reveal that these policy measures
have a significant impact on youth smoking behavior indirectly via the peer effect.” Statesponsored Ads and campaigns can combat peer pressure, but they will never reach 100%
penetration. If parents choose the right schools and ensure their children keep good company,
they can strongly limit the likelihood of their children smoking.
Minors and Smoking 4
Works Cited
Backman, J., Johnston, L., and O’Mallry, P. (1993). Smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use
among American secondary school students, college students, and young adults, 1975 –
1991 (National Survey Results on Drug Use from Monitoring the Future Study). Lanham:
Bernan Press.
Clark, A. E., & Lohéac, Y. (2007). “It wasn’t me, it was them!” Social influence in risky
behavior by adolescents. Journal of Health Economics, 26, Retrieved October 21, 2008,
from
http://www.sciencedirect.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6
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De Leeuw, R. N. H., Engels, R. C. M. E., Vermulst, A. A., & Scholte, R. H. J. (2008). Do
smoking attitudes predict behaviour? A longitudinal study on the bi-directional relations
between adolescents’ smoking attitudes and behaviours. Addiction, 103, Retrieved
October 20, 2008, from http://www3.interscience.wiley.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/cgibin/fulltext/121378764/HTMLSTART.
Powell, L. M., Tauras, J. A., & Ross, H. The importance of peer effects, cigarette prices and
tobacco control policies for youth smoking behavior . Journal of Health Economics, 24,
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Minors and Smoking 5
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