The Latest on Teen Smoking and Vaping

I grew up in a day and age where commercials and ads trumpeting the joys of smoking tobacco were everywhere. News broadcasts and  television shows often included the camera catching the smoky haze of cigarettes smoldering in ash trays or from a smoker’s exhale. It wasn’t until 1966 that the surgeon general’s warnings first appeared on cigarette packages. In 1970, cigarette commercials were banned from tv and radio. Smoking was banned on domestic flights in 1988. We’ve come to understand that smoking is both addictive and dangerous. The latest numbers on teens and smoking from the annual Monitoring the Future Survey found that youth cigarette smoking dropped to record lows, with 4.1% of high school seniors reporting cigarette use in the past month. But vaping rates continue to be high, with almost 1 out of five high school seniors reporting vaping nicotine in the last month. Parents, educate your kids to the dangers of smoking and vaping.