煙草在線據(jù)謝比爾鎮(zhèn)來(lái)源報(bào)紙報(bào)道編譯　　研究人員12月26日稱，美國(guó)青少年的吸煙率在2012年降至歷史最低，吸煙率下降的部分原因可能是受聯(lián)邦煙草稅大幅上漲的驅(qū)動(dòng)。

　　對(duì)8年級(jí)、10年級(jí)和12年級(jí)的大約4.5萬(wàn)名學(xué)生進(jìn)行的年度調(diào)查結(jié)果顯示，那些稱他們?cè)谶^(guò)去30天內(nèi)吸過(guò)煙的學(xué)生總比例僅僅下降了超過(guò)一個(gè)百分點(diǎn)，降至10.6%。

　　“下降一個(gè)百分點(diǎn)聽(tīng)起來(lái)可能不算太多，但它表示目前吸煙的青少年數(shù)量在一年內(nèi)減少了大約9%，”該調(diào)查的主要調(diào)查人員勞埃德·約翰斯頓在一份聲明中說(shuō)道。

　　他表示，下降的比例可轉(zhuǎn)化為能夠預(yù)防數(shù)千個(gè)過(guò)早死亡及上萬(wàn)例癌癥和其它嚴(yán)重的疾病。

　　專(zhuān)家稱，預(yù)計(jì)每年將有超過(guò)40萬(wàn)的美國(guó)人會(huì)因吸煙而過(guò)早死亡——吸煙是美國(guó)可預(yù)防死亡的頭號(hào)殺手——而且大多數(shù)吸煙者是在青少年時(shí)期開(kāi)始吸煙的。

　　衛(wèi)生保健倡議者歡呼12月26日的調(diào)查結(jié)果證明了較高的卷煙稅是有效的，而且聯(lián)邦政府對(duì)傾向于年輕人的煙草營(yíng)銷(xiāo)和銷(xiāo)售的抑制以及全面的反對(duì)煙草的媒體宣傳也是有效的。

　　研究人員還表示，2009年把每包卷煙的聯(lián)邦卷煙稅提高62美分也是起作用的一個(gè)因素。該調(diào)查是密歇根大學(xué)的研究人員進(jìn)行的年度調(diào)查的一部分，是由美國(guó)國(guó)家藥物濫用研究所發(fā)布的。

　　該調(diào)查結(jié)果顯示，接受調(diào)查的每個(gè)獨(dú)立年級(jí)的吸煙率都下降了，但8年級(jí)的吸煙率下降最明顯——從2011年的6.1%下降到2012年的4.9%。

　　研究人員稱，長(zhǎng)期趨勢(shì)顯示，自20世紀(jì)90年代中期青少年吸煙率達(dá)到最高以來(lái)，8年級(jí)學(xué)生的吸煙率下降了四分之三左右、10年級(jí)的下降了三分之二、12年級(jí)的下降了一半。

　　專(zhuān)家指出，其中一個(gè)原因是曾經(jīng)嘗試吸煙的學(xué)生比例大幅下降了。在1996年時(shí)近一半的8年級(jí)學(xué)生嘗試吸煙，而今年只有16%的學(xué)生嘗試吸煙。

U.S. Teen Smoking Declines to Record Low in 2012, Study Says

　　Cigarette smoking among American teenagers dropped to a record low in 2012, a decline that may have been partly driven by a sharp hike in the federal tobacco tax, researchers said on Wednesday.

　　An annual survey of about 45,000 students in the eighth, 10th and 12th grades found that the overall proportion of those saying they had smoked in the prior 30 days fell by just over a percentage point to 10.6 percent.

　　"A one percentage point decline may not sound like a lot, but it represents about a 9 percent reduction in a single year in the number of teens currently smoking," Lloyd Johnston, the principal investigator in the study, said in a statement.

　　He said reductions on that scale can translate into the prevention of thousands of premature deaths and tens of thousands of cases of cancer and other serious disease.

　　More than 400,000 Americans are estimated to die prematurely each year as a result of cigarette smoking - the No. 1 cause of preventable U.S. deaths - and most smokers begin their habit as adolescents, experts say.

　　Healthcare advocates hailed Wednesday's findings as evidence that higher cigarette taxes were paying off, combined with federal curbs on youth-oriented tobacco marketing and sales and a sweeping anti-smoking media campaign.

　　The researchers also cited the increase in federal cigarette taxes, raised by 62 cents a pack in 2009, as a likely contributing factor. The findings were part of an annual survey by University of Michigan researchers released by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

　　Smoking rates fell for each of the individual age groups surveyed, most notably among eighth graders - from 6.1 percent in 2011 to 4.9 percent in 2012, the survey found.

　　Longer-term trends showed teen smoking rates dropping by about three-fourths among eighth graders, two-thirds among 10th graders and by half among 12th graders since a peak in the mid-1990s, researchers said.

　　One reason cited by experts is that the proportion of students who have ever tried smoking has declined sharply. Whereas nearly half of all eighth graders had tried cigarettes in 1996, just 16 percent had done so this year. Enditem