The number of Florida high school students smoking cigarettes is dropping. A recent study by the Florida Department of Health shows a 23 percent decrease in high school smoking.
Officials from the Florida Department of Health and Tobacco Free Florida say their anti-smoking campaigns are working. About 32% of high-school students reported they had tried smoking a cigarette at least once. That’s a record low, according to the state. But Florida’s anti smoking campaign hasn’t deterred Rebecca Kronick, an 18 year old smoker at West Port High school in Ocala, who’s parents and friends also smoke.
“I think it is just more so that no one thinks anything bad is going to happen to them right now, more of a health repercussion because we’re so young and it’s not going to catch up with us as soon as it would when you get older and you’re still smoking ” Kronick said.
The state’s Tobacco Free Florida campaign began in 2010. In that time the number of high school students trying tobacco for the first time, fell by 5 percentage points.