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SEPTEMBER 12, 2000

A study of 12- and 13-year old American teens showed evidence of addiction to nicotine within days of smoking their first cigarette, according to a study published by the British Medical Association.

In this week's issue of Tobacco Control, the smoking habits of a group of 681 teens in Massachusetts were studied by researchers at the University of Massachusetts. The researchers did not diagnose any teens with nicotine addiction, but simply reported those with symptoms of it.

According to the research, 63 percent of the teens in the study showed signs within a month. A quarter of them reported symptoms within two weeks of having their first cigarette and some said reported symptoms within days.

The news of the study comes as the US Department of Health and Human Services says that teen smoking, on the whole, is down nationwide.

However, along with high rates of illicit drug use, American Indian and Alaska Natives had the highest rate of tobacco use than any other group in the country. A reported 43.1 percent of Native Americans ages 12 and above said they used tobacco within the last month, according to the 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.

Persons of multiple races and Hispanics reported the next highest rates of tobacco usage. Some 34 percent of persons of multiple race reported current tobacco usage while 24.8 percent of Hispanics reported the same.

In response to the survey, the White House announced a $2 million advertising campaign aimed at fighting the drug use problem in Native communities. However, no money or programs have been announced targeting tobacco usage among Native Americans of any age group.

Get the Drug Abuse Report:
1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (SAMHSA August 2000)

Relevant Links:
The British Medical Association - web.bma.org.uk/homepage.nsf
The Tobacco Control Resource Centre - web.bma.org.uk/tcrc.nsf
Tobacco Control, a journal of the BMA - tc.bmjjournals.com
The Truth, a site for teens - www.thetruth.com/coverstories/current/flash/index.cfm

Related Stories:
Ad campaign targets youth drug use (The Medicine Wheel 9/7)
Drug use high among Native youth (The Medicine Wheel 9/1)