America's youth has been told repeatedly about the deadly impact of smoking cigarettes. They roll their eyes at their parents' wagging fingers and go on their way. But apparently, they are listening.

Since 1997, there has been a steady decrease in the amount of underage smokers. According to a 2004 Monitoring the Future study, in which 49,474 students in a nationally representative sample of 406 public and private schools were surveyed, 27.9 percent of eighth graders reported smoking cigarettes within their lifetime, down from 47.3 percent in 1997. There was also a 19.5 percent decrease between these years among tenth graders and a 12.6 percent decrease among twelfth graders.

There has also been a significant decrease in the total number of cigarettes sold and given away with coupons and promotions. The Federal Trade Commission's 2003 annual report released this year reported that the amount of cigarettes sold or given away by manufacturers in 2002 decreased by 14.8 billion cigarettes, or 3.7 percent, from 2001 and dropped another 19.8 billion (5.1 percent) between 2002 and 2003. Domestically, sales declined 9.5 percent within this 2-year span.

What are the reasons for this severe decay of such a prominent industry? One reason could be a 1992 Federal law, known as the Synar Amendment, which restricts youth's access to tobacco. It requires all states and U.S. territories to implement laws prohibiting the sales and distribution of tobacco products to minors. Enforced by annual, random, unannounced inspections and the threat of having the state's Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) Block Grant reduced by 10 percent for each consecutive year of non-compliance, all states were compliant by the fiscal year 1995. Up to 2005, the national retailer violation rate dropped 40.1 percent since the annual surveys began in 1996.

"States that meet their Synar goals share certain characteristics," SAMHSA Administrator Charles G. Curie said. "Generally, these states employ a comprehensive strategy that combines vigorous enforcement efforts, political support from the state government, and a climate of active social norms that discourage youth tobacco use." One of these strategies is cigarette tax increases. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, 41 states and the District of Columbia have passed 57 separate state cigarette tax increases since early 2002, averaging a 48 cent tax increase per pack, leaving the total average tax rate for these states at $1.04 per pack.

In a 2001 interview with Business Line, the Chief Executive of International Tobacco Division Kurush Grant, said, "Broadly, the rate of growth of the cigarette business is directly correlated to that of the economy. As the rate of growth of per capita discretionary income increases, the rate of cigarette consumption, as opposed to other forms of tobacco consumption, increases. […] But if the tax keeps rising dramatically, growth will be an issue. Therefore, for the industry, the issue is economic growth and the relative taxation between cigarettes and other forms of tobacco consumed."

Even with these issues, the big concern remains cancer and other health-related problems caused by smoking. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data highlights for 2004 reported that there were 442,398 smoking-attributable deaths throughout the year and that 6,440,514 of people who started are projected to die as a result of smoking.

"Cancer is the only reason [for the decline in smoking among teens]," said Robert Longley, head of usgovinfo.about.com and researcher of the U.S. Federal Government. "Enough teens have seen smoking kill their parents."

The Tobacco Information and Prevention Source area on the CDC government website notes that more deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined.

"If smoking didn't kill you," Longley says, "[people] wouldn't be writing articles [about it]."

Even with the decline of smoking, this still remains a fact. According to Longley, the other strategies employed by states to discourage youth tobacco use do "nothing. And, the government is not, and needs to stop trying to be, our parents," he said. "People will stop smoking all by themselves."