LINCOLN, NE (December 14, 2009) – The 2009 Monitoring the Future Survey released today by the National Institute of Drug Abuse shows that the nation continues to make gradual progress in reducing youth smoking, but declines have slowed significantly compared to the dramatic gains early in the decade.  In especially troubling news, the survey also finds that smokeless tobacco use has increased among 10th and 12th graders in recent years, a period during which tobacco companies have introduced a slew of new smokeless tobacco products and significantly increased marketing for smokeless tobacco.

In the Midwest, the rate of smokeless tobacco use among 12^th graders was reported at 14.1 percent in 2009, which compares to a rate of 7.2 percent in 2008. The rate of cigarette smoking among the Midwest was reported at 25.7 percent in 2009 compared to 22.1 percent in 2009.

The use of proven strategies has caused smoking rates nationwide (the percentage who have smoked in the past 30 days) to decline by 69 percent among 8th graders, 57 percent among 10th graders and 45 percent among 12th graders since peaking in the mid-1990s. Before the recent increase, youth smokeless tobacco use also declined significantly from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. 

This increase coincides with the introduction of numerous new smokeless tobacco products and a big increase in smokeless tobacco marketing.  In recent years, the top two U.S. cigarette manufacturers, Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, have entered the smokeless tobacco market both by purchasing existing smokeless tobacco companies and introducing new smokeless tobacco products.  These new products have included Marlboro snus and Camel snus that married the names of these companies’ best-selling and most youth-popular cigarette brands to spitless, pouched smokeless tobacco products called snus.  In 2008, R.J. Reynolds began test-marketing new dissolvable smokeless tobacco products called Camel Sticks, Strips and Orbs that look like gum and candy and come in “fresh” and “mellow” flavors.  These new products no doubt appeal to kids because they are easy to conceal, carry the names of youth-popular cigarette brands and come in candy-like forms and flavors.  In addition, more traditional smokeless tobacco products continue to be marketed in a wide variety of kid-friendly candy and fruit flavors.

There has also been a big increase in smokeless tobacco marketing.  According to the latest data from the Federal Trade Commission, smokeless tobacco marketing expenditures totaled $354.1 million in 2006, an increase of 53 percent since 2004 and 143 percent since 1998.  Smokeless tobacco marketing rose even as cigarette marketing fell slightly from 2003 to 2006.  While most cigarette brands have stopped advertising in magazines with large youth readerships such as Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone, many smokeless tobacco brands continue to advertise in these publications, most notably R.J. Reynolds’ Camel snus.  Also, more than 60 percent of smokeless marketing is spent on price discounts (including coupons) that make smokeless tobacco products more affordable and appealing to price-sensitive youth customers.

The Monitoring the Future survey also found a decrease in recent years in the percentage of 10th and 12th graders who perceive regular smokeless tobacco use as a great risk to health.  This decline in risk perception comes as some smokeless tobacco companies have sought to portray their products as a less hazardous alternative to cigarettes.  Rather than reducing the harm caused by tobacco use, the 2009 Monitoring the Future survey indicates that the main consequence of current smokeless tobacco products and marketing is to increase the number of youth who use smokeless tobacco

Smokeless tobacco, as traditionally sold in the U.S., has been found to increase risk of oral cancer, gum disease and cardiovascular disease.  Constant exposure to tobacco juice has also been linked to cancer of the esophagus, pharynx, larynx, stomach and pancreas.

Tobacco use causes more than 400,000 preventable deaths and costs the nation nearly $200 billion in health expenditures and lost productivity each year. 

More information on the Monitoring the Future survey can be found at www.monitoringthefuture.org.

• Nebraska this year will collect $110 million from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 3.9 percent of it on tobacco prevention programs.
• The tobacco companies spend $72.1 million a year to market their products in Nebraska. This is 17 times what the state spends on tobacco prevention.