A New Survey Study Smokes Out the Opinions on Teens Regarding “Tobacco 21” :

There is a lot of advocacy going on nationally and in some state legislatures regarding the need to restrict access to tobacco products to young adults age 21 or older, known as the “Tobacco 21” initiative. While we certainly hear the need for this to happen from our pediatric community, how do our adolescent patients feel about the movement to raise the smoking age from 18 to 21?  To answer that question health services researcher Dr. Hongying Dai shares with us data (10.1542/peds.2017-0570) from the 2015 National Youth Tobacco Survey involving more than 17,000 respondents ages 11-18. The good news is that almost two-thirds of the respondents did support the “Tobacco 21” initiative and the support correlated with anti-smoking behaviors and opinions.  If your state is dealing with possibly passing a bill to raise the smoking age, bringing patients with you willing to join you in testimony may be just what it takes to get this legislation through.  If you have been unsuccessful in your state, we would love your advice on what might have been done differently and whether you tried to collaborate with your teen patients to make passage of a “Tobacco 21” bill a reality.  Share with us your thoughts by posting a response to this blog, a comment on the website where this study is published, or simply posting on our Facebook or Twitter sites.