Tough to get youth to quit smoking

Add caption

Concerned about young people smoking, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) is thinking of having tougher laws to curb this disturbing trend.
But experts worry that so long as the young see smoking as 'cool' and harmless, it will take a lot to get them to stub it out.
Private student Sarah Elizabeth, 17, said: 'No matter how high prices are, I'll find a way to smoke. It's quite an addiction now and it's also a social habit.'
Dr Carol Balhetchet, director of youth services at the Singapore Children's Society, said: 'Young people won't stop smoking just because of regulations.' And they are getting younger too, she said.
'The youngest case I've ever seen was someone who picked it up at seven years old. It used to be that 14 or 15 was considered young.'
Among the proposed measures the HPB announced two weeks ago to deter the young from smoking are: Heavier fines for underage smoking, banning the sale of certain tobacco products, barring some places from selling them, and lowering permitted tar and nicotine levels. HPB, in partnership with the Health Sciences Authority, is also conducting a four-week public consultation which ends on Aug 28.
The public can access www.hpb.gov.sg or www.moh.gov.sg to give feedback and comments.
Anyone under the age of 18 is considered an underage smoker. First- to third-time underage offenders currently get a minimum composition fine of $30.
HPB's proposal is to increase the amount from $30 to $100 for first- to fourth-time offenders.
Apart from putting cigarettes beyond the reach of youth, HPB is also concerned about the many other ways someone can have a 'fix'.
For instance, a 19-year-old student, who wanted to be known only as Allan, told The Sunday Times he now uses hand-rolled cigarettes.
'A regular cigarette pack costing $10 or $11 will last me only three days. Now I pay $12 for paper and tobacco which can last me two weeks,' he said.
HPB also noted that young people have new tobacco products like shisha and cigarillos, or mini cigars, to turn to.
National serviceman Greg Chan, 19, does not smoke cigarettes but enjoys shisha every three months with his friends. 'I know it is more harmful than cigarettes but it's relaxing and since we do it only occasionally, it doesn't bother me,' he said.
Shisha, or water-pipe smoking, involves burning a flavoured tobacco mixture and smoking it through a pipe connected to a water vessel.
The 2007 National Health Surveillance Survey showed that smoking has risen among young adults aged 18 to 29, from 12.3 per cent in 2004 to 17.2 per cent in 2007.
Dr John K.E. Tan, executive director of the Children-At Risk Empowerment Association, said: 'As teens are not yet cognitively mature, they may have a hard time grasping the long-term effects of tobacco use.'
HPB is proposing to restrict the number of tobacco retailers, including premises which sell youth-centric products such as candies and toys. It also wants to ban misleading labels such as 'light', 'mild' or 'low tar'.
Dr Munidasa Winslow, a specialist in psychiatry at Raffles Hospital, said: 'For the really addicted ones, even if they are smoking cigarettes with lower nicotine content, they may still smoke more to get the same high. All cigarettes pose some form of damage.'
Ms Yasmin Ng, a senior pharmacist specialising in smoking cessation at Changi General Hospital, said alternative forms of smoking are also harmful.
'Water-pipe smoking may increase the smoker's exposure to carcinogens because a water-pipe is used over a long period of time,' she said. In just one water-pipe session, the smoker may inhale smoke equivalent to smoking 100 or more cigarettes.
She also said that bidi - a type of hand-rolled cigarette - delivers more nicotine, carbon monoxide and tar than regular cigarettes.
Nominated Member of Parliament and sociologist Paulin Straughan, who specialises in youth issues, made this observation: 'Youth may smoke to 'be different'. The more elusive tobacco is, the more desirable it will become and they won't listen to the authorities or establishment.
'We need to approach them through their peers, and provide them with venues for social activities to express themselves so they won't resort to smoking.'
This article was first published in The Straits Times.

Source:http://news.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090818-161768.html