Tobacco Use: What, How, & Stopping It
Tobacco use is an extremely hard habit to break once started due to the highly addictive ingredient nicotine. Similarly to how drugs work, the brain and body enjoy the effects of tobacco and quickly get used to them, often requiring them to feel “normal.” The reasons for tobacco use vary from person to person, experience to experience.
Tobacco Use in Teens
The FDA and CDC reported via the 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) that roughly 2.8 million youth currently use a tobacco product. Of these youth, 12.6% (1.97 million) are high school students, and 6.6% (800,000) are middle school students. The top five widely used tobacco products that were reported throughout the survey were e-cigarettes or vapes, cigars, cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and smokeless–which includes chewing tobacco or dip.
What does Tobacco Use Mean for Our Kids?
It’s well known there are a slew of negative side effects of tobacco use for adults and youth alike. The more noticeable effects are cosmetic, including bad breath, smoke-smelling clothes and hair, and yellow teeth. Some more serious may involve a persistent cough–which some refer to as “smoker’s cough”–an inability to keep up in activities and sports, and an increased likelihood of respiratory and flu illnesses. Heart disease, lung damage, every type of cancer you could imagine, and a shortened lifespan are some of the effects that teens and even some adults don’t know. But they are facts. And they are bad. Stephen Barry from Healthline’s “Why Teens Smoke and How to Help Them Quit” shared that teens can develop lifelong addiction from smoking only 100 cigarettes, and 9/10 adult smokers started by age 18.
Tips for Preventing/Stopping Use
Drug and alcohol prevention should start early, and the same goes for tobacco use. Like most efforts, it can begin with an open conversation about the use and its effects. This might involve having regular check-ins and talking about peer pressure. Check out some of our other resources tha might be helpful:
Drug Free Clubs of America is on a mission to reduce the impacts of drug use on youth. Across the nation, drug and alcohol use is on the rise among teens. We provide students with practical tools and techniques to navigate peer pressure and choose a healthy lifestyle. Partnering with schools and communities, we offer preventative programming to meet students where they are. Through randomized drug testing, educational resources, a positive outlet, and a supportive community, we are changing school cultures and reducing alcohol, marijuana, vaping, and other detrimental activities among our members and the entire school body. Drug Free Clubs of America has over as over 7,000 active student and faculty/staff members and Clubs in over 50 schools in Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and California.
Source: FDA, Healthline
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