Tobacco Documents Online

PROGRAM DATE StJBJECT -5- STw11oN WABC-TV GOOD MORNING AMERICA #2 C" NY 03/02/94 08:14AM AUDIENCE DR. MICHAEL FIORE - TOBACCO RESEARCFiER BROADCAST EXCERPT MAR 3 1994 .., JOAN LUNDEN (HOST): Every year in this country 400,000 people die from illnesses related to smoking. And while a million people auit smoking annually, many new, and mostly young people, take up the habit. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders is now demanding that prevention of teenage tobacco addiction should become a national priority. How do you make sure that your kids don't start smoking? Here with some suggestions is Dr. Michael Fiore of the 7niversity of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research & Intervention. The statistics I just couldn't believe them. Do the ones on how many teenagers start smoking every day. DR. MICHAEL FIORE (DNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, CENTER FOR TOBACCO RESEARCH & INTERVENTION): This is really a major problem in America. Three thousand of our kids become addictive to tobacco every day. Most of them under the age of eighteen. In fact, half of them are under the age of 16. And this is in the face of laws in every one of our fifty states that say kids cannot buy cigarettes. LUNDEN: And we send so many messages out there also. You would think that the kids would be hearing them. what are the major factors in the trend? And if you look at the trend of adults it goes down, but the trend of young people is going up. • FIORE: There is a number of factors, but it isn't any one single factor that leads an individual kid to start smoking. we know that parent influence is clearly very important. But we also know that there is a powerful pervasive influence of the tobacco industry's advertisement. The spend $4 billion every year advertising and promoting these cigarettes. Many of these ads are directed specifically to young people. LUNDEN: Some are cartoon characters. FIORE: Right. Think about Joe Camel. Who is Joe Camel directed at? It was a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that says that six year old kids recognized Joe Camel as frequently as they recognized Mickey Mouse. LtTNDEN: So those ads are obviously directed toward young people. And what about the sales? How do these kids get tobacco eo eaBily? 2023913846 r1offft

-6- MAR 3 1994 FIORE: Well, we have a real problem with the availability of tobacco sales to kids. We know that in virtually any state in America a kid could walk in a convenience store. And without anyone batting an eye the kid could buy a pack of cigarettes. We need to do more to enforce the laws that are already on the books that say that kids cannot purchase cigarettes. LUNDEN: What do we know about the chances? If you start that young,, say under 14, is your chances of smoking all your life greater because you started younger? FIORE: The earlier you start, the more you are at risk of all the health effects. And in many cases, it is more difficult to quit. The age that. you start is important.. . And it is also important to recognize that even smoking a few cigarettes, as few as 100 cigarettes, leads many kids to be addicted to this product. And it is very difficult for them to quit. Half of high school seniors who smoke say they want to quit. They have tried and they, too, have found it very difficult to quit this drug. LgNDEN: So what do you say to the parents out there? What are some suggestions? FIORE: Parents have to take this issue seriously. It is not just a bad'phase that all kids will go through. This is a warning signal. First that you are putting your kid at risk for a life long addiction to a very serious drug. But also that most kids who go on to use alcohol or a legal drug first start with tobacco. Kids who smoke are at risk for doing more poorly in school. LUNDEN: And athletics obviously. FIORE: First take care of things at home. Declare your house smoke-free. And if you smoke quit. Not only for yourself, but also for your kids. Work with your schools. It is important to make school grounds entirely smoke-free. Both the kids and the teachers cannot be smoking in the environment. And le-t,'s work on the accessibility. Let's make certain that in every community in America, kids can,t walk in and buy cigarettes. We need to increase taxes on cigarettes because with the prices higher we know kids can't buy cigarettes. LUNDEN: And the Food and Drug Administration feels that the industry is even controlling the amount of nicotine to insure the addict ion. FIORE: I think the evidence appears overwhelming. And the tobacco industry is clearly regulating this as a drug and it needs to be regulated like another drug. Why can kids walk into any store and by a product which may lead them to a lifetime of illness and death. 2023913847 LUNDEN: That you so much. {end}