Cigarette use among island children ages 12 to 17 has dropped, according to a new federal study, and health officials hope that a bill that would make Hawaii the first state to raise the legal smoking age to 21 will further cut young people’s cigarette use.
In 2002-2003, 8.7 percent of Hawaii children 12 to 17 years old had smoked a cigarette in the month before. In 2012-2013, 5.4 percent had smoked a cigarette in the previous month, according to a study released this week by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, mirroring a nationwide pattern of decreased smoking among young people in 49 out of 50 states.
Only Utah, with the same 5.4 percent rate as Hawaii, showed no statistically significant decline, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
"Nationally, Hawaii’s been a leader in seeing our youth smoking rates going down," said Lola Irvin, manager of the state Health Department’s Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division.
At the same time, young people in Hawaii are getting bombarded by "a lot of mixed messages around e-cigarettes" that might have contributed to the drop in traditional cigarette use, said Jessica Yamauchi, executive director of the nonprofit Hawaii Public Health Institute, which includes the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii as one of its programs.
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THE HAWAII STATISTICS
2002-2003: 8.7 percent of island children 12 to 17 had smoked a cigarette in the preceeding month.
2012-2013: 5.4 percent of island children 12 to 17 had smoked a cigarette in the preceeding month.
29% of 1,941 Hawaii students reported using e-cigarettes in 2013. That was more than double the percentage of ninth-through-12th-grade students surveyed around the country.
Sources: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the University of Hawaii Cancer Center
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Around the country, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration study found that increased use of e-cigarettes and hookahs was "offsetting declines in use of more traditional products such as cigarettes."
Locally, according to a University of Hawaii Cancer Center study, 29 percent of 1,941 Hawaii students surveyed in 2013 reported using e-cigs — more than twice the 12 percent of students grades 9 through 12 surveyed across the country.
And the Health Department’s Hawaii Youth Tobacco Survey showed that e-cigarette use among high school students tripled between 2011 and 2013, and quadrupled among middle school students during the same time period.
"It’s always great to see that cigarette smoking is decreasing," Yamauchi said. "But we’re finding that kids do not feel that e-cigs are harmful in any way. They think they’re completely harmless."
While traditional cigarette use dropped among Hawaii children, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration study found no statistically significant change among young islanders’ attitudes regarding the dangers of cigarette smoking.
In 2002-2003, 65.4 percent of Hawaii children ages 12 to 17 thought there was a "great risk of smoking one or more packs of cigarettes per day."
In 2012-2013 the percentage had fallen to 63.6, but Health Department officials said the change was statistically insignificant.
They hope that apathetic attitudes about smoking among some young people will change if Gov. David Ige signs a bill that would make Hawaii the country’s first state to raise the legal smoking age to 21.
Children can be heavily influenced by older friends who can legally buy cigarettes at age 18, said Lila Johnson, program manager for the Health Department’s tobacco prevention education program.
Raising the legal age to 21 will remove the influence of older teenagers, Johnson said.
"It’s really going to change that equation," she said.
Johnson cited a 2012 report from the U.S. Surgeon General that found that 90 percent of adult smokers started before the age of 19, and 100 percent had their first cigarette before age 26.
In March the Institute of Medicine reported tobacco use would drop by 12 percent if the legal age were increased to 21 from 18.
If Ige signs the bill into law, Yamauchi said, it will help further cut down both cigarette and e-cigarette use among young people in Hawaii because the bill also bans e-cigarette use for anyone under age 21.
"We know that students are able to get products from their peers who are 18 or 19," she said. "Putting the age at 21, you’re putting it out of that high school range. If Hawaii can be the leader, that’s a great start, and we hope the rest of the country will follow."
Ige spokeswoman Jodi Leong said the bill has yet to reach Ige’s desk.
