At 15 and 16, they say their smoking habits already are so entrenched that policymakers would do better to focus on their elementary-school siblings. Our job is to point out to them the consequences of smoking. He notes the government has succeeded on other public health fronts with teens, increasing seat belt use and reducing drunken driving. Both speak from personal experience. The research done already suggests that cigarette advertising is a powerful influence on teens.
Price also can have an impact, especially on younger teens.
Some communities report success through strict enforcement of laws barring cigarette sales to minors. But smoking clearly has become an entrenched part of teen-age culture, with an estimated 3,000 teens taking up the habit every day. Nearly all the smokers say they do it because it relaxes them, and more than half say they like the taste. Four in 10 say they smoke to enhance marijuana's effect. But other measures in the McCain bill were dismissed as irrelevant by most of the student smokers.