“Sometimes there’s too much of this ‘Don’t Smoke’ crap”: Changes in Young Smokers’ Beliefs 1977-2008

1. “Sometimes there’s too much of this ‘Don’t Smoke’ crap”:Changes in Young Smokers’ Beliefs 1977-2008 Brennen Mills Dr Owen Carter

2. 1977!!!

3. Project 16

4. 1982!!!

5. Project Plus/Minus Has anything changed in the last 5 years?

6. 2008!!!

7. Objectives of our study Re-create examination done by Project Plus/Minus (1982) 1982 2008

8. Relevance of 1982 in Canada to now in Australia Canada 1971 - Media advertising ban 1972 - Health warnings on cigarette packages/advertisements 1977 - Laws restricting where smoking is permitted 1979 - National Canadian Newspaper runs a stop-smoking campaign 1982 – Smoking causes Coronary Heart Disease 1988 - Can’t sell to minors, no smoking in aircraft or on trains 2000 - Graphic images cover half of cigarette pack 2005 – Ban of point of sale displays 2006 - Banned in all enclosed public places Australia 1976 - Media advertising ban 1983 - First tobacco control TV ads 1990 - Magazine advertising ban 1991 - WA schools become smoke- free 1994 - Billboard advertising banned 1997 - First national TV campaign 1999 - Prohibits smoking in public places with food 2006 - Pubs, nightclubs and sporting clubs smoke-free in WA 2006 - Graphic images on cigarette packs 2007 - Point of sale displays limited 1 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2007 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: state and territory supplement. Drug statistics series no. 21. AIHW cat. no. PHE 102. Canberra: AIHW; 2008. 10 Coase P, Miller J. ASSAD smoking report 2005: a research report prepared for the Drug and Alcohol Office WA. Perth: TNS Social Research; 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/smoking/timeline.html#

9. Methodology Male smokers 16-18 Female smokers 16-18 Male smokers 19-24 Female smokers 19-24 Male ex-smokers 19-24 Females ex-smokers 19-24

10. Why do young people start smoking? 1982 - “All the really popular people were smoking and they’d offer you a cigarette. ‘Aw come on, sure you can try it!’ So you’d cough your guts out, but it was cool you know” 1982 – “I was curious…and everyone else was smoking so I thought I’d be with the crowd” 1982 – “I just smoked occasionally to be part of the gang” Peer Pressure 2008 - “I don’t think any smoker wants to make anyone else smoke” Peer acceptance 1982 - “I started working in this place; everybody smoked there, so I started too. You were a goof if you didn’t” Perceived Pressure The ‘in’ factor 1982 - “Because others I worked with did it, I did it. If I was offered a smoke I’d take it because I was new and you don’t want everybody to think your above them, you have to blend in” 2008 - “You just felt like you were in… Who doesn’t want to fit in with everyone else?” 2008 - “You’re bonding with that group….you find yourself doing it because everyone else is” 2008 - “It wasn’t like, if you don’t smoke your not ‘in’, they probably just subconsciously accept you more”

11. Why do young people start smoking? 1982 - “I had this real boring summer job and a lot of time there was nothing to do except smoke, or suck ink out of a ballpoint or something.” 2008 - “It’s a nice little break in your life, it kills time” 2009 - “It’s like an escape having a schmoke” Peer Pressure Boredom Peer acceptance 1982 - “If your sitting around having coffee, it’s easier to talk and stuff, you’re certain to have a good conversation if you pull out a cigarette” 1982 - “It’s really cool to take one when smokes go round” 2008 - “They said this other girl was doing it at school and I was like ‘Are you serious? Give it here…if she’s doing it then I’ve got to try it’….I guess because we all thought we were cooler than her and if she was doing it I’d better do it too” Social advantages The ‘cool’ factor 2008 - “For some reason ciggies seem to stimulate conversation and chit chat I find, if your standing around just doing nothing you might have an awkward moment in your convo [conversation] whereas if you’re having a ciggie you both have something to do between your chat”

12. Why?

13. Health Effects Smoke Socially Find it difficult to quit Begin Smoking Will quit when the ‘time is right’ Addiction 1982 - “Smoking is something that I find such a minor problem at the moment that I don’t worry about it…because I know I’m going to quit. I have no doubts about that” Happily ever after! 2008 - “Things would change for me in the future if I started smoking more heavily but at this rate its not effecting my health”

14. The Life of the Young Smoker “People really look down on the whole smoking thing, like if you’re sitting at a meal and someone is having a smoke people are unimpressed” “It’s a good social icebreaker, someone you’ve never met before, you know you stand there with them and have a dart [cigarette]” Pros “Just going out, having a gas like you’d wake up with a twice as bad hangover because you’ve just been smoking a shitload of cigarettes” ‘Cool’ “I think its definitely like a stress reliever as well, like if something really bad happens to me, like the first thing I’ll do is be like ‘where’s the cigarette?’” QUITLINE Peers “It’s really cool to take one when smokes go round” “I don’t want to be the only one smoking….it makes you that much more filthy you know if you’re the one guy out the front of a party just by yourself, its like so anti-social” Social “You just felt like you were in… Who doesn’t want to fit in with everyone else?” Stress When I started doing it during the day you could feel it twice as bad I reckon in your body. I just felt really unfit, that’s the reason why I gave it up” “It made me want to yack [vomit] because I was hell maggot, [intoxicated] I hated it.” Cons Social Unacceptability; Physical Discomfort; Not being last smoker; Fitness

15. Significant changes since 1982 Smoking prevalence in teenagers has dropped dramatically Smoking prevalence in 15-18 yr olds Smoking prevalence in 16-17 yr olds 1985 28% 2004 18% 1984 30% 2005 20%

16. Significant changes since 1982 Social Acceptability 2008 - “I went out one night and was having a few smokes outside. I went back in and I’d been talking to a girl pretty much the whole night and thought it was a done deal…. she asked me if I’d had a cigarette. I said ‘yep’ and then she walked away from me” 2008 - “And it used to be much more socially acceptable, like there are so many fewer people that smoke now and sometimes you can be sort of an outcast when you smoke” 2008 - “If you’re picking up chicks and there’s a chance that she’s going to turn to you and say ‘look if you’re a smoker this isn’t happening’, I just reckon it’s not worth risking” 2008 - “I’ve had a lot of guys tell me that smoking is really off-putting and it makes me look like a skank and stuff like that” 2008 - “None of your mates are actually going to tell you that you shouldn’t smoke but you definitely know that people are looking down on you or that they wouldn’t be happy with you smoking, and that can get to you”

17. Important Similarity Reaction to the idea of government tobacco cessation interventions? Reaction to laws limiting smoking in public places 1982 - “Non-smokers have more right than we do, to be really honest” 1982 - “Don’t blow smoke at people, and don’t smoke when you shouldn’t. Sometimes there’s too much of this don’t smoke crap, but mostly, I observe it” 2008 - “It’s definitely starting to impinge on your own personal freedoms 2008 - “Yeah I reckon its good, it clears the air a lot more and the people that want to go outside they can just have a smoke outside.” 2008 - “I think the government oversteps there mark sometimes …you can’t smoke in an enclosed area right? Not all these pubs have a beer garden so they’ve got like a designated smoking area and like smokers are being ostracised in society”

18. Conclusions While prevalence of smoking amongst the young has decreased, the reasons young people take up smoking has changed little over the past thirty years. Thirty years of social engineering has decreased acceptability of smoking which in turn has made Overt Peer Pressure less acceptable Smokers continue to be happy with any government restrictions that outwardly protect others from their smoking Long-term health effects of smoking provide little motivation for young smokers to quit Young do not believe they will become addicted and therefore they believe the health effects of smoking will not have any impact on them

19. Are there any questions? My mate Dave Me