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Show - Targets of cigarette advertising are vulnerable teenagers, says health) group submitted by the Utah Heart Association :' As scientific evidence on the hazards of smoking helps convince many adults to stop, cigarette advertising may influence teenagers to start. 1 Health organizations such as the American Heart Association have to reckon with this dilemma as they fight to neutralize the tobacco industry's in-dustry's annual $1 billion advertising advertis-ing budget. These advertisements promote an image to teenagers, already vulnerable to social and peer pressures, that smoking is pleasurable, adventurous and adultlike, according to Dr. Paul Clayton, president of the American Heart Association, Utah Affiliate. "These advertising practices are unfair and unfortunate," Clayton said. "Teenagers are valuable to the tobacco industry's strategy to increase in-crease future cigarette sales. Two-thirds Two-thirds of all smokers begin before the age of 18. If they haven't started smoking regularly by that age, chances are that they won't become addicted smokers." Although the American Heart Association and other organizations have effective messages to counter cigarette advertising ploys, they don't have the advertising leverage the tobacco industry has. 1 "Although we don't have a budget comparable to the tobacco-in- dustry's, we can get the no-smoking message out through community service, educational programs and public service announcements," Clayton said. The American Heart Association has available a film, "Let's Talk About Smoking," which butts heads with the tactics used by the tobacco industry. The film is based on unrehearsed interviews with junior high school students who pointedly discuss influences to smoke that come from siblings, family and advertising. The program uses peer ; pressure, which usually encourages " v smoking, as an anti-smoking force. ,iu-Although smoking among ' teenagers has declined, the decline r?ifi leveled . off. Teenagers who :fij 'Jit, ;t,' smoke in Utah are part of an estirijated 3 million teenagers who continue to smoke. Studies show that 20 percent of high school seniors smoke, and smoking among girls 17-18 is at an all-time high of 26 percent. per-cent. , According to a recent Federal Trade Commission Report, many teenagers believe that smoking isn't harmful or addictive. Teenagers will experiment wiht smoking for awhile with the intent of quitting before it becomes a habit. Unfortunately, most of those who experiment for any length of time eventually become habitual smokers. Smoking is a factor in almost 325,000 deaths each year. |