The article has been automatically translated into English by Google Translate from Russian and has not been edited.

Teens support raising the minimum age for selling tobacco

'20.06.2017'

Source: UPI

Photo: depositphotos

Community InitiativeTobacco 21»Conducted a survey among teenagers aged 11 to 18 years. The goal of the survey is to find out how adolescents relate to raising the minimum age for selling tobacco products to 21, reports UPI.
The study involved more 17 000 teens and children from 185 US schools.
Researchers say raising the minimum age of tobacco purchase to 21 can have significant public health benefits: 249 000 fewer deaths and 45 000 less lung cancer deaths in people born between 2010 and 2019.
The study shows that almost two-thirds of US teens support the initiative to raise the minimum age for buying tobacco products to 21 years.
In particular, children from 11 to 18 years were asked if they supported the initiative.Tobacco 21»- a program of the Tobacco Addiction Prevention Foundation, which seeks to raise the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products.

“In almost all previous studies and surveys, the focus was on the opinion of adults, and very little is known about how young people feel about the program.”Tobacco 21"As well as the correlation between attitudes towards the program and smoking," said study author Hunging Dai, an assistant professor of health services and research at Children's Mercy Hospital, in Kansas City, Missouri.

The reasons for wanting to increase the age to 21 of the year are scientifically based. It is teenagers who start experimenting with cigarettes and other tobacco products and risk becoming heavy smokers.

“Teenage brains are still developing, and tobacco use at this age can actually alter and disrupt brain development,” explained Bill Blatt, director of the American Lung Association's National Tobacco Programs.

“Adolescents have more brain receptors that are receptive to nicotine, and the changes in brain structure that occur with tobacco use cause long-term addiction for many years,” Blatt says.

Photo: depositphotos

Raising the minimum age of tobacco purchase to 21 will likely have significant public health benefits.
In addition, the researchers found that younger adolescents are more likely to support the initiative. Girls are more likely to support raising the minimum age than boys.
As Blatt explains, this is already the tendency that the younger generation, equally boys and girls, are less likely to use tobacco.
Not surprisingly, today's young tobacco users were not thrilled with this initiative. Only 17% of adolescents who currently smoke cigarettes supported the initiatives “Tobacco 21". For current e-cigarette users, this number is 31%.
About 71% of adolescents who did not smoke cigarettes or e-cigarettes, supported an increase in age.

The adult population supports an age increase for tobacco products in the amount of 75%. In recent years, there has been a further decline in adolescent smoking, but alternative tobacco products, such as electronic cigarettes, sometimes replace cigarette smoking.

Hung Dai said that the initial rapid growth in the use of electronic cigarettes was caused by a lot of advertising, as well as the attractive taste of cigarettes. By 2015, electronic cigarettes became popular in adolescence. But the most recent estimates show a dramatic reduction in usage: from 3 to millions of middle and high school students in 2015, to 2,2 million in 2016, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Photo: depositphotos

But according to Blatt, e-cigarette use is also unsafe for teens, as most - whether flavored or not - contain nicotine. This means that the addiction to electronic cigarettes is the same as to ordinary ones. In addition, there are often completely unknown ingredients in the liquid used in e-cigarettes that are not fully understood and there is no data on how they affect the lungs.

“Many people perceive e-cigarettes as less harmful than regular cigarettes, and some believe that they are not harmful at all. But we have no evidence to support this, ”Blatt said.

«Tobacco 21»Also offers to increase the age and when buying electronic cigarettes.
According to researchThere are now at least 215 cities and two states - California and Hawaii - that have raised the minimum age for smoking from 18 to 21.

“This is good evidence that state legislators understand that there is widespread support for Tobacco 21, even among teenagers,” Blatt said.
- It is difficult when we have different understanding of the problem in different states. A 19-year-old teenager will not be able to buy cigarettes in his state, but he will be able to do so in the neighborhood. The laws need to be the same for all states in this respect. ”

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