["Contract" prevents school youth from initiating tobacco use. Percentage of smoking/snuff-taking 13-16-year-olds cut in half over a six-year period]

Abstract

A contract has been used as an aid to prevent tobacco use among pupils in certain schools in Sweden. A local variant of this contract ("Antidrogkortet") ("Drug resistance card") has been used in the community of Habo in 6th to 9th classes in the nine-year compulsory school since 1995. By signing the contract the pupil promises not to use tobacco during the present school year. The contract also has a function of a lottery ticket where the winnings are distributed twice each term. An evaluation has been made by means of a questionnaire to the pupils. A third of the pupils who answered the questionnaire stated that the contract has helped them not to use tobacco. Since 1995 the number of smokers in 7th to 9th classes has decreased from 16% to 7%, and the number of users of moist snuff has decreased from 8% to 4%.