In the Green River area, which includes Daviess, Ohio, Muhlenberg and Hancock counties, three schools participated in the survey, said Stephanie Keelin, tobacco prevention and control coordinator at the Green River District Health Department. The Department for Public Health, in collaboration with the University of Kentucky College of Nursing, conducted the survey. Increasing cost of cigarettes may be the cause. Twenty-eight percent of middle school students and 46 percent of high school students used some form of tobacco, including cigars and smokeless tobacco, in the 30 days prior to the survey. Nearly 66 percent of nonsmoking middle school students and 75 percent of high school students were exposed recently to secondhand smoke, which can cause asthma, bronchitis or middle ear infections.
Studies also show secondhand smoke can cause heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmokers.
Forty percent of middle school students and 75 percent of high school students bought cigarettes 30 days before the survey was given, despite the state's law that says they can't until they are 18. In Whitley County, teens gave presentations to middle school students about tobacco advertising. Students in northern Kentucky participated in a poster contest with winning designs used for decals placed in smoke-free restaurants. And in Daviess County, students from Owensboro Catholic High School and Owensboro High School are working to get the Sportscenter smoke-free. The city is waiting for an interpretation of the law before it issues a decision, Keelin said.