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This Article Extract Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2007.117374v1 97/8/1353    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Orleans, C. T. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Orleans, C. T. Related Collections Other Tobacco

C. Tracy Orleans, PhD

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Youth Tobacco Cessation Collaborative

Adult smoking prevalence in the United States has fallen dramatically over the past 30 years. However, the decline appears to have stalled; rates of cigarette smoking among adults aged 18 years and older have remained flat at 20.9% in 2004 and 2005, and 21% for the first 9 months of 2006, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Even more alarming, rates of current smoking among high school seniors rose from 26.2% in 2003 to 27.6% in 2005. In addition, smoking rates among young adults aged 18 to 24 years—which remain the highest rates for any adult age group—increased from 23.6% in 2004 to 24.4% in 2005. We should heed these warning signs and act now to prevent an upswing in tobacco use.

CDC and tobacco industry studies suggest that these trends reflect changes in tobacco control policies and industry practices: declining annual increases in retail cigarette prices, declining youth-focused tobacco counteradvertising, increased smoking in movies, reduced funding for comprehensive state tobacco prevention and cessation programs, and record-level tobacco industry investments in advertising and promotion—much of it targeted at price- and brand-conscious young adult smokers. Also, young adult smokers include a high proportion of light, casual, and social smokers, as well as brand switchers, who are attractive targets for tobacco industry marketing aimed at increasing the ranks of life-long smokers.

Young adults face challenging transitions that can bring added stress and pressure. Nevertheless, young adult smokers are motivated to quit. In a recent survey of smokers aged 16 to 24 years, almost two thirds said that they were planning to quit in the next 6 months—mostly citing smoking’s health effects on themselves and others. Tobacco industry studies also have found that young adult smokers are more likely than other adult smokers to try to quit. But few of these potential quitters report use or even awareness of evidence-based treatments; fewer than 5% had used quit line services, fewer than 20% had used nicotine gum or patches, and most harbored misconceptions about the risks and benefits of effective treatments.

In 1998, the Youth Tobacco Cessation Collaborative was established by the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, American Legacy Foundation, CDC, National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to accelerate progress in helping adolescents and young adults quit smoking (http://www.youthtobaccocessation.org). The Collaborative is proud of the great progress that has been made, reflected in the articles in this special issue, and strongly believes that helping young adult smokers quit must remain a priority for national tobacco control research, policy, and practice.

Achieving breakthroughs in the development and use of effective tobacco cessation treatments will require work on multiple fronts. Our challenge is to develop and deliver appealing and effective treatments geared to the needs, psychographics, and incentives that motivate young adult smokers to quit.

We must take up this challenge to protect the next generation of adults from the devastating health consequences of smoking. There is really no choice: if we act now, we will save lives.

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This Article Extract Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2007.117374v1 97/8/1353    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Orleans, C. T. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Orleans, C. T. Related Collections Other Tobacco