Until now, older smokers always outnumbered younger ones. The new numbers call for new strategies to prevent kids from ever lighting a cigarette. State epidemiologist Frank Franklin says 70 percent of children who try cigarettes become smokers. That's worrisome for Georgia, where half the middle schoolers surveyed by Franklin last spring said they've smoked. The CDC findings underscore the need for ambitious public awareness campaigns to keep young people from smoking.
Tobacco companies deny they entice youngsters into smoking.
Through promotions in bars and nightclubs and sponsorships of pop and rap concerts, tobacco companies clearly cultivate a youth market.