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. 2003 Mar;93(3):412-6.
doi: 10.2105/ajph.93.3.412.

Is smoking delayed smoking averted?

Affiliations

Is smoking delayed smoking averted?

Sherry Glied. Am J Public Health. 2003 Mar.

Abstract

Antismoking efforts often target teenagers in the hope of producing a new generation of never smokers. Teenagers are more responsive to tobacco taxes than are adults. The author summarizes recent evidence suggesting that delaying smoking initiation among teenagers through higher taxes does not generate proportionate reductions in prevalence rates through adulthood. In consequence, the impact of taxes on smoking among youths overstates the potential long-term public health effects of this tobacco control strategy.

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Figures

FIGURE 1—
FIGURE 1—
Long-term reductions in smoking participation produced by a 10% cigarette tax increase. Sources: Gruber and Zinman, Glied
FIGURE 2—
FIGURE 2—
Age at smoking initiation, by sex and year of birth, median and 75th percentile: National Health Interview Survey, 1997.

Comment in

  • Is child-centered tobacco prevention a trap?
    Bayer R, Kiesig V. Bayer R, et al. Am J Public Health. 2003 Mar;93(3):369-70. doi: 10.2105/ajph.93.3.369. Am J Public Health. 2003. PMID: 12604474 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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