Elsevier

Preventive Medicine

Volume 31, Issue 4, October 2000, Pages 287-295
Preventive Medicine

Lead Article
Tobacco Use among Massachusetts Youth: Is Tobacco Control Working?,☆☆

https://doi.org/10.1006/pmed.2000.0727Get rights and content

Abstract

Background. This paper examines whether the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program is affecting the rates of smoking and smokeless tobacco use among Massachusetts' youth.

Methods. School survey data from the Massachusetts Prevalence Study were analyzed to estimate differences between 1993 and 1996 rates of youth cigarette and smokeless tobacco use, attitudes toward smoking, and awareness of cigarette ads and promotions of antismoking messages.

Results. Lifetime and Current Smoking rates declined significantly among middle school males, contrasting with stable national trends. Among girls in this age group, Lifetime and Current Smoking did not change significantly. Hispanic middle school students exhibited a significant decline in Lifetime Use. There were no significant changes in Lifetime or Current Smoking rates among high school students. Lifetime use of smokeless tobacco declined among middle school students while Current Use declined among both middle and high school students. Students reported declines in awareness of cigarette ads or promotions and increases in awareness of antismoking messages.

Conclusions. These results provide evidence for cautious optimism regarding the impact of tobacco control, but indicate that these efforts should begin earlier and that additional research is needed to understand and address the problems of tobacco use by girls.

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    We thank Mary Brolin, Carolyn Celebucki, Nina Kammerrer, Steven Shalom, and several anonymous Massachusetts Department of Public Health reviewers for comments on the manuscript and Chantal Laperle, Betty Penno, and Robert Kramer for aid with editing.

    ☆☆

    This study was supported by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Bureau of Substance Abuse Services and the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program.

    2

    To whom correspondence and reprint requests should be addressed at 531 Beech Street, Roslindale, MA 02131. E-mail: [email protected].

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