The urgency to examine the current climate of youth tobacco use stems in part from the sheer number and prevalence of tobacco consumption by youth less than 18 years of age, and in part from the nicotine dependence that results even in the young. More than 25% of US adults smoke. Of these, 70% would like to quit. According to the US Surgeon General's Report on Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People, 89% of adult daily smokers began smoking by age 18, and 71% also became daily smokers by this age. Most smokers begin smoking during childhood or adolescence, while youth who graduate from high school without starting to smoke seldom begin the habit. These formative years are highly vulnerable in terms of youth tobacco uptake. In 1996, an estimated 1.226 million daily smokers in the United States were under the age of 18. A projected 5 million persons under age 18 in the United States in 1995 will die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses if current patterns of tobacco use persist.
Legislation and funding from the tobacco settlement has made possible the development and availability of new resources. Connections among legislation, policy, and major health issues are significant. Because legislation can affect important health policy related to youth tobacco prevention and cessation, health care professionals must stay informed about current legislation and related issues. Health care professionals also must work to support local, state, and federal restrictions against tobacco sales to children and adolescents. The health care community must work together to determine the direction public policy stemming from legislation surrounding the tobacco settlement will take. The economic cost of not intervening in the youth smoking epidemic is very high. Annually in the United States, 430,000 deaths are attributable to tobacco use, making tobacco the number one cause of death and disease in this country. Daily, some 3,000 children and adolescents become regular users of tobacco................
