Frank Pallone: “I absolutely agree. Not that we like to throw around statistics, but there were some very good statistics that were put…”

“I absolutely agree. Not that we like to throw around statistics, but there were some very good statistics that were put out by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids about tobacco use among youth. If I could just mention them to give us an idea, right now, this is a very detailed survey they did that showed that 4.1 million kids age 12 to 17 are current smokers, and that smoking among high school seniors is at a 19-year high, 36.9 percent. Since 1991, past-month smoking has increased by 35 percent among eighth graders and 43 percent among tenth graders. Basically, more than 5 million children under the age of 18 alive today will die from smoking-related disease unless current rates are reversed. This is an epidemic getting bigger. I think a lot of people think youth smoking has gone down. It hasn't. It has actually increased. Not too much more here, but 45 percent of white high school boys report past-month use of tobacco; 20 percent of boys in grades 9 through 12 report past-month smokeless tobacco. Smoking by African-American high school boys increased from 14.1 percent in 1991 to 27.8 percent in 1995. Of course, we know that almost 90 percent of adult smokers begin at or before age 18. So if they start before they are 18, then they are basically the smokers who become the adult smokers of tomorrow. So this is something that has to be addressed.”