Smoking Is Up Among Young Adults

College is a time for having fun and being social. While students are out on the town, many pick up the nasty habit of smoking. The smoking rate among young adults is increasing by alarming numbers.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, adults ages 18-24 have the highest smoking rates and the largest increases in smoking rates of any other age group. As for the state of Alabama, the rate of smoking in adults 18-34, the closest comparable demographic recorded by the state health department, is 29 percent.

Health officials report that cigarette smoking is by far the most important risk factor in the development of lung cancer as well as the single most preventable cause of death. Cigarette smoking alone causes about 30 percent of cancer deaths and 440,000 premature deaths each year. Smoking also contributes to heart disease, stroke and other chronic obstructive lung diseases.

Alabama is one of 46 states that receives annual payments from the top five tobacco companies as a result of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, which was reached when states were trying to recover tobacco-related health care costs.

After the Master Settlement Agreement ended the tobacco industry's ability to market directly to youth 17 and younger, tobacco companies started to target the legal age of young adults. The Federal Trade Commission reports that tobacco companies increased spending on marketing by more than 20 percent in the year after the Master Settlement Agreement. That included $335.7 million on promotional items such as T-shirts, sunglasses and caps and another $33.7 million on free cigarette samples.

Also under the Master Settlement Agreement, manufacturers are restricted to conducting marketing events in adults-only facilities. And while bars ensure that environment, they also are a prime location to capitalize on the connection between tobacco and alcohol.

Duke University researchers found that when a smoker drinks even a tiny amount of alcohol, the pleasure of cigarettes is amplified. Alcohol may prime the brain to be more receptive to the effects of nicotine. They also found that the stimulants in nicotine may offset some of the sedative effects of alcohol.

While drinking is a popular excuse given by young adults for smoking, they also mention stress, peer pressure and think they can quit before it affects their health in the future. They rarely blame their smoking habits on marketing by tobacco companies. Many young adults who participated in the survey were under the impression that it's illegal to advertise tobacco at all.

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