Smoking costs society an estimated $289 billion a year in healthcare costs. Given the serious threat to public health, governments have strategies to regulate the sale, use, cost, and advertisement of tobacco products (Figure 11.13). Organizations have created mass media campaigns and public service announcements (PSAs) discouraging tobacco use. Successful campaigns emphasize short- and long-term health effects, strategies for refusing tobacco, and the fact that most teens do not use tobacco. Teens who regularly see these advertisements and campaigns are less likely to use tobacco products. Ultimately, the decision about whether or not to use tobacco products lies with you. You can use several skills to protect yourself from tobacco use and refuse tobacco products. These include building healthy relationships, learning strategies for managing stress, thinking critically about the media you see, and using refusal skills. Build Healthy Relationships Many teens feel pressure to use tobacco products if they have close friends who engage in this behavior. Fitting in during social situations if other people are smoking, vaping, or chewing tobacco and you are not can be difficult. In healthy friendships, however, your friends respect the choices you make and do not pressure you. People choose friends because they enjoy spending time with them, not because they use tobacco products. If your friends do not respect your decision to avoid tobacco products, focus on developing other friendships. Perhaps you have grown apart from some of your other friends. Try to form friendships with people who respect you and accept your choices. Learn to Manage Stress Some people start using tobacco products to relieve stress. Smoking, vaping, or chewing tobacco may help them relax or not worry about a difficult situation. Using tobacco ends up increasing stress, however. An addiction to nicotine causes more issues than it solves and has negative mental and social consequences. Fortunately, there are many ways of managing stress that are more effective and do not have negative health consequences. You learned about some of these strategies in Lesson 5.3. Instead of using tobacco products, try the following methods for managing stress: ● ● Listen to music: Create a playlist of songs that help you relax and feel good. Listen to this playlist when you are feeling anxious or need to reduce stress. ● ● Talk to a friend: Find a friend who is a good listener and reach out to that person when you are feeling stressed. Social support is one of the best ways to manage stress. public service announcements (PSAs) media messages that support public health Government Regulations on Tobacco Products The sale of tobacco is prohibited to anyone younger than 21 years of age. Government programs also banned the sale of all candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes and the sale of cigarettes in vending machines in places where minors are allowed. Bans on the sale of tobacco products Some states have laws banning smoking and vaping in public places. These laws reduce exposure to secondhand smoke and aerosol and reduce triggers for people trying to quit nicotine. Bans on smoking and vaping in public places Federal, state, and municipal governments have set high taxes on the purchase of tobacco products, decreasing their sale, especially among teens. Taxes on tobacco products All tobacco product packaging and advertisements must contain warnings stating the risks associated with tobacco use. Warnings on packages and advertisements Tobacco companies are banned from producing TV, radio, magazine, and newspaper advertisements for their products. Bans on advertising Figure 11.13 Restricting the ability for teens to buy and use tobacco products is an effective way for the government to prevent nicotine addiction. Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Chapter 11 Vaping and Tobacco 383