THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 28, 1995 TAG: 9507280054
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E11 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: TEENSPEAK
SOURCE: BY LORRAINE EATON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
IN THE PAST DECADE adult smoking has dropped by 20 percent, but about 1-in-5 eighth-graders now puffs away, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported last week.
The result? The next generation of adults may face increasing rates of lung cancer, heart disease and other smoking-related health problems, whether they inhale or not.
Teenspeak asked a group of seventh-graders at Norfolk Academy's Learning Bridge summer enrichment program whether the numbers reflect reality and what can be done to reverse the trend.
``Probably more eighth graders smoke than that,'' said Brandon Hardison, a Lake Taylor Middle School student.
Lauren Leaptrot, of Azalea Gardens Middle School, even knows of a sixth-grader who smokes.
The three most powerful tools to reduce adolescent smoking are elimination of advertising, increased price and enforcement of laws that prohibit the sale of cigarettes to minors, according to Michael Ericksen, director of the U.S. Office on Smoking and Health.
The group took a moderate stance and decided against a total ban on advertising.
John Walters, a student at Blair Middle School, recalled a Joe Camel neon billboard he used to see on Hampton Boulevard. ``You drove by at night, and there was this big thing flashing at you saying, `Smoke this. Smoke this. Smoke this.' A lot of kids think it's cool.''
John, Brandon and Corey Nash, a student at Rosemont Middle School, thought that the advertising should be balanced with anti-smoking television commercials.
Limiting access to smokes might work, but the six students agreed that teenagers will find a way to get tobacco much the same way they manage to get beer.
Raising the price of tobacco might have an impact, they said, but no one saw that as a particularly strong deterrent. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
In the comics, Curtis' dad smokes and they try to get him to quit by
putting up signs or by exchanging his cigarettes for rolls of paper.
. . . It's neat to see that kind of push in the comics.
John Walters, 12, Blair Middle School
Joe Camel, they always show him acting cool and stuff and shooting
pool. Some young people might think that that's how they'll be cool,
if they smoke, everybody will like them.
Corey Nash, 12, Rosemont Middle
by CNB