Almost ninety percent of adult smokers begin smoking at or before age 18.
Most people start smoking daily in grades six through nine.
People who start smoking at young ages find it hardest to quit. For these reasons, school-based programs specifically designed to prevent kids from using tobacco products and to help young smokers and spit tobacco users to quit, are critically important. Funding will be provided to assist schools throughout the State in implementing tobacco use prevention and cessation programs that are proven successful and driven by students, parents, staff, and school boards at the local level. Every school will have ready access to training, materials, and technical assistance to effectively use specialized tobacco use prevention curricula, create school policies prohibiting tobacco use, and offer cessation services to students, faculty and staff.