Social media’s role in our smoking youth

I don’t smoke, nor do I plan to start. However, the National Center for Health and Statistics reports that about 18 percent of Americans are smokers, a rate that has significantly decreased since 1997 when almost 25 percent smoked.

This opinion article was originally featured in PantherNOW and talks about the influence of social media on smokers and people getting into smoking.

Check out the article’s excerpt below and click the link if you want to read the full story!

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Maytinee Kramer/Staff Writer

I don’t smoke, nor do I plan to start. However, the National Center for Health and Statistics reports that about 18 percent of Americans are smokers, a rate that has significantly decreased since 1997 when almost 25 percent smoked.

In today’s society, it has become increasingly difficult to disconnect from social media, which plays a negative role in youth smoking. Media has expanded far beyond the employment of more traditional channels such as newspapers, magazines, radio and television.

With our increasing use of the Internet and interactive video gaming, tobacco control and tobacco industries have been turning to social media to influence the attitudes and behaviors of the American public.

According to the National Cancer Institute, cigarettes are one of the most heavily marketed products in the United States.

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via Social media’s role in our smoking youth

Photo Credit: Dani Ramos on Unsplash

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