In Florida's battle against teen smoking, Tampa Bay is the hot zone. A new statewide survey by the Florida Department of Health shows that middle and high school students in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Manatee counties are more likely to smoke than teens in any other part of Florida.
Experts have no idea why.
The state sent anonymous questionnaires randomly to 23,000 Florida students this year. That's 9 percentage points above the statewide average. Cigar smoking, which has become trendy among adults, is apparently cool in school. Nearly 17 percent of middle school students and a quarter of high school students in the bay area admitted lighting up a cigar at least once in 30 days. The survey indicates the habit intensifies as teens move through school.