News Brief

The Washington Post

“The campaign to reduce teenagers’ smoking has stalled, new federal data show, dismaying federal health officials and anti-smoking advocates who said that one of the nation’s most important public health priorities is faltering.

“Smoking by teenagers fell sharply and steadily between 1997 and 2003, but the latest data from a large federal survey tracking smoking and other risky behaviors among young people found the proportion of teens who smoke leveled off between 2003 and 2007.

“This is the most dramatic indication that the great progress we’re making has stalled,” said Terry Pechacek of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which released the new data last week. “This has very negative long-term implications.”

“Anti-smoking advocates agreed.”

Source: The Washington Post, June 29, 2008