News

On March 24th during "Kick Butts Day", the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention program (MTCP) released a report showing that the percentage of youth who smoke cigarettes has dropped to an all time low in 2009, hitting 16%, reaching the Healthy People 2010 goal. However, the percentage of youth who use other tobacco products, such as small cigars, dissolvable tobacco, and Snus has risen to 17.6%. This is the first time in Massachusetts that other tobacco product use has been higher than cigarette use for youth. These numbers show that Big Tobacco is still targeting youth with new products by making packages brightly colored, candy flavored, and advertising near schools and playgrounds. Read about the study here.

The report has begun to receive local attention:

• The Boston Herald: Smokeless tobacco, cigars outpace youth cigarette smoking (3/24/2010)
• Fox News: High school smoking rates down to 16 percent (3/24/2010)
• MetroWest Daily News: Teen survey: Smokeless tobacco more popular than cigarettes (3/26/2010)
  • Letter to the Editor: Protect Kids from Tobacco (3/30/2010)

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