Why Teens Smoke
First of a Series

This series looks at four factors that influence people under 18 to smoke: tobacco companies, peer pressure, parents, and teens' ability to make judgments.

Hey, you! Kid with the cigarette in your mouth. So you think that smoking was a decision you made? Think again. Cigarette companies have played you.

According to costkids.org, the tobacco industry pays big bucks to find out how to lure teens and pre-teens into lighting up. "They've done research...using hidden cameras, interviews, and psychological tests to find ways to get [children] to smoke.... About 90% of smokers start by the time they are 18. The companies know that if they don't get kids to light up while they are young, they most likely never will."

A 1997 article in U.S. News and World Report also claims that that research is happening. "Don't underestimate the industry's commitment to finding powerful nonverbal hooks," editor John Leo warns, "particularly for young beginning smokers. A lot of psychologists are reportedly on the payroll, and rumor has it that they include child psychologists, too" (06/02/97, p. 18).

	Think cigarette advertising doesn't influence you? Check this out: According to an article in the Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report, cigarette "advertising influences teens in their choice of brands." Researchers at the Cancer Prevention and Control Program of the University of California, San Diego, found young adolescents are twice as likely to be influenced by cigarette advertising and promotion than by pressure from peers and family, demographic characteristics, or school performance (reported in the American Medical News, November 6, 1995).

Costkids.org reports that in 1997 the four major American tobacco companies (Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, Brown and Williamson, and Lorillard) reported profits of $7.8 billion. About $1.3 billion of that came from smokers under the age of 18. Those young people risk their health to put profits of $221 million into the pockets of tobacco companies.

Do American tobacco companies market to children? They have for a long time. The Journal of the American Medical Association says, "Tobacco companies regularly and emphatically assert that 'we don't want kids to smoke,' yet they spend billions on advertising campaigns featuring cowboys and cartoon characters. Not surprisingly, Marlboro and Camel are the brands most commonly smoked by kids" (02/10/93, p. 793).

How do tobacco companies trick teens and preteens into smoking? Next time you go into a convenience store check out where the cigarettes are displayed: right up front with easy access. Notice how many popular actors smoke in the films they star in ("monkey see, monkey do" is the advertising strategy). Do you have hats, t-shirts and other promotional stuff with cigarette advertising? Guess who paid for you to have that. (Did you know 50% of kids who smoke own some type of promotional item?) One more trick: certainly you've noticed how everyone in cigarette ads looks popular, attractive, and fun. The message: light up; you want to be cool, don't you?

Bill Novelli is the president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. When he appeared on "In the Mix," a PBS program, he said, "You see a tremendous amount of advertising near schools and playgrounds, in stores and gas stations, on billboards, when [teens] go to a concert, just every place. Also, all those... t-shirts and caps and all the things kids like to wear. What could be better for the tobacco industry than to watch a kid walk down the street wearing a Marlboro t-shirt?"

Yah, you've been played, my cigarette smoking friend. You're paying the tobacco companies to rob you of your health. Probably to kill you. Isn't it time to quit being used?

Pastor Aderman serves the Savior as pastor at Fairview Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is also the editor of LivingBold.