Chewing tobacco use in our youth has been declining for years. Which is a good sign when it comes to showing how the battle against big tobacco is turning out. But according to this article from the Los Angeles Times, it has stopped declining and remained static for some time now.
This is alarming, when our kids get hooked at such a young age, they are less likely to break free from nicotine’s grasp. Statistics show that the younger someone starts using smokeless tobacco, the harder it is to eventually quit using chewing tobacco. That is why it is imperative that we keep our youths use of tobacco products on the decline, and its so alarming to see that decline at a stand still.
Youth Chewing Tobacco Use
At TheQuit.org, we know that we have to work as hard as we can to try to eliminate all tobacco use in our youth, as impossible as that may be to do, we will never lose hope. Check out the article below, quoted from the Los Angeles Times. It covers the decrease, and the recent lack of a decrease in the chewing tobacco use of our youth. It is also full of some very interesting statistics, and a whole slew of information that is extremely helpful on the topic.
If you yourself are thinking about quitting chewing tobacco, TheQuit.org can help. We are an online support community of quitters, who’s main goal is to help others become quitters. We know what it takes to quit, because we have all done just that.
Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2017
Smokeless tobacco use among U.S. kids and teens has leveled off. • By Karen KaplanLOS ANGELES — After years of decline, the rate of smokeless-tobacco use among young people in the United States has leveled off, new research shows.
In 2011, 5.2 percent of middle-school and high-school students reported using snuff, chewing tobacco or dipping tobacco at least once in the 30 days before they were interviewed for the National Youth Tobacco Survey, which is conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That’s essentially the same as the 5.3 percent of young people who were considered smokeless-tobacco users in 2000.
The products are continuing to fall out of favor for the youngest kids in the survey, with use falling by an average of 4.6 percent per year among 9- to 11-year-olds.In addition, smokeless-tobacco use among kids between the ages of 12 and 14 fell by an average of 3.4 percent per year.
But tobacco companies gained a little ground among 15- to 17-year-olds, with use rising nearly 1 percent per year on average. Among high-school students, the trends were the same regardless of race, ethnicity or gender.
There were no changes in smokeless-tobacco use for students ages 18 or older.
The findings appeared in yesterday’s edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The researchers, from the Center for Global Tobacco Control at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, along with one colleague from the University of Pretoria in South Africa, speculated that new products like “moist snuff” helped the tobacco industry hold on to smokeless-tobacco customers. In addition, companies are not prohibited from using flavored products or free samples to entice potential customers, they noted.
Lower taxes on smokeless tobacco products relative to cigarettes might have played a role as well, the researchers added.
Many states have begun to restrict online and mail-order sales of smokeless tobacco, and authorities have stepped up enforcement of age-verification rules in places where smokeless tobacco products are sold.
The researchers said these efforts might have helped reduce sales among younger students.