High school smoking drops — but not here

By Erin McClam

Associated Press

Smoking among U.S. high school students has dropped to its lowest level in a decade, the government said Thursday. That is, except in Snohomish County, which is bucking the trend.

About 28.5 percent of high school students in a nationwide survey last year reported they had smoked a cigarette in the previous month — down from 36.4 percent five years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said.

The rate is the lowest since 1991, when 27.5 percent of high school students said they smoked. The figure climbed for most of the 1990s before reversing in 1999.

Nationally, the CDC credited steep cigarette taxes and school programs that discourage youngsters from taking up the habit.

"This is terrific news," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "This is dramatic evidence that the combination of tax increases and prevention programs are the equivalent of a vaccine."

However, the national trend did not hold in Snohomish County, where 28.7 percent of 10th-graders and 39.6 percent of 12th-graders reported in 1999 that they had smoked at least one cigarette in the past 30 days.

Smoking increased among local sophomores and seniors during the 1990s. In 1993, 22.4 percent of surveyed 10th-graders and 24.9 percent of seniors said they had smoked at least one cigarette in the past month.

"I couldn’t … say one way or the other why it is higher here," said Deanne Thompson, health educator for the Snohomish Health District.

A recent survey by the state Health Department shows that 32.2 percent of adults in Snohomish County smoke, which is far higher than the state average of 24 percent, she said.

"If you would assume our adults" smoke at higher rates, "then teens might be higher as well," Thompson said.

Nationally, the average retail price of cigarettes jumped 70 percent from December 1997 to May 2001, and CDC analysts said studies by health economists show that high cost deters youngsters from smoking.

Many states are pushing for even higher taxes on cigarettes, particularly as they look for ways to raise money in a tough economy. State taxes range from 2 1/2cents a pack in Virginia to $1.50 in New York.

The CDC said high-schoolers also appear to be getting the anti-smoking message pushed by national media campaigns, and school-based anti-tobacco programs appear to be sinking in.

Health officials would like to see all the factors expanded in coming years. They want the high school smoking rate to be much lower — 16 percent at most — by 2010.

"The rates are starting to turn around, but we need a continued effort," said Dr. Terry Pechacek of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health.

Herald reporter Sharon Salyer contributed to this report.