The overwhelming reason that children and youth begin using tobacco is because of media and peer pressure. There is a perceived value created by the advertising world that using tobacco is part of everyday life. Our young people are extremely susceptible to what they think everyone else is doing, and what they think will make them cool. And advertising plays right to this malleable audience. The media enhances this perceived value by portraying smoking as a normal activity that is enjoyed by everyone who is happy, independent, successful, thin and sexy.
Advertising pushes all the right buttons in the minds of a developing teenager.
Portray popular actors and actresses smoking, and advertise tobacco products on race cars, portray models who are socializing with large groups of smiling people, and have wafer-thin women in scanty clothes flash alluring glances to the magazine or commuter audiences. The results are predictable. A wide range of public health initiatives must be employed to reach the goal of preventing youth from using tobacco. While there are numerous state and local efforts to limit youth access to tobacco, many have been sporadic and under-funded. A comprehensive national plan, building on the Food and Drug Administration s tobacco rule, to reduce youth access to tobacco is needed.