Teenage Smoking Increases Industry Against Stronger Rules To Curb Underage Smoking

America’s teenagers continue to light up in increasing numbers.

A report issued Thursday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the proportion of high school students who reported having smoked within the previous 30 days had increased from 27.5 percent in 1991 to 34.8 percent in 1995, the latest figure available.

Some 41 percent of the students age 17 and under said they bought cigarettes themselves from stores or vending machines, according to the CDC’s weekly “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.”

The rate of increase was especially steep among African American boys, who in the past have had much lower smoking rates than high school boys of other races. In 1995, the proportion of African American boys in grades 9 through 12 who reported they smoked was 27.8 percent, almost double the 1991 figure of 14.1 percent.

“Today’s report is disturbing proof that more and more young teenagers are becoming lifelong smokers and too little is being done to prevent illegal tobacco sales to them,” President Clinton said in a statement. Clinton has proposed that the Food and Drug Administration regulate tobacco products in order to reduce underage smoking. That plan has been fiercely fought by the tobacco industry, which has claimed in the past that voluntary measures can be used effectively to deal with the problem.

“My administration remains committed to preventing adolescent decisions from becoming lifelong addictions,” Clinton said. “I ask all Americans to support strong measures that will effectively address the growing problem of tobacco use by our children.”

Brennan Dawson of the Tobacco Institute, the industry’s lead trade association, said Thursday that much progress could be made in reducing youth access to tobacco simply by properly enforcing existing state laws, which already set a minimum smoking age of 18 nationwide.

For example, 77 percent of students under 18 said they were not asked to show proof of their age when buying cigarettes in stores, according to the CDC survey.

“When they talk about the real high numbers not being asked to show ID,” Dawson said, “that is a number that can easily come down and should make a difference - if only they are asked for ID. That’s a great opportunity for everyone to work on.”