Tobacco.org

Survey shows drop in teen smoking 

High-school smoking in the nation's top tobacco-growing state has dropped by about 25 percent since 2003 while smoking among middle-schoolers fell nearly 40 percent, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Since 1999, smoking among North Carolina's high-school students has dropped by a third, while two-thirds fewer middle-schoolers now light up, according to the biennial Youth Tobacco Survey, which polled more than 6,000 students.

"The survey demonstrates that our efforts are making a big difference and improving the health of teens," said Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue, chairwoman of the N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund, which uses money from the state's master settlement with tobacco companies to improve the health of North Carolinians. "We have to continue our commitment to the programs that will help create the first generation of tobacco-free kids in North Carolina."

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