Teenagers' use of cigarettes showed a dramatic decline from 2002 to 2010 in 41 of the 50 states, finds a new report released yesterday by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This comes despite another of the survey's findings that the risk teens attach to cigarette smoking has changed little over this time period. The survey's teen respondents indicated that their perception of great risk of harm from smoking one pack or more a day increased from 63.7% to 65.4% overall from 2002 to 2010. Nationwide, teens' use of cigarettes dropped from 12.6% to 8.7%, but wide variations appeared among the states. At the extremes were Wyoming, where 13.5% of teens smoked cigarettes, and Utah where just 5.9% did so. Data come from SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)."Although this report shows that considerable progress has been made in lowering adolescent cigarette smoking, the sad, unacceptable fact remains that in many states about 1 in 10 adolescents smoked cigarettes in the past month. The report also shows that we must collectively redouble our efforts to better educate adolescents about the risks of tobacco, and continue to work with every state and community to promote effective tobacco use prevention and recovery programs,” said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela Hyde.To read about how smoking may take a toll on cognitive functioning, see Psychiatric News here. And to read mental-health related findings from the NSDUH, click here. (image: Andrey Chardin/shutterstock.com)
