Recently released results from the 2007 North Carolina Youth Tobacco Survey show smoking among middle school and high school students is down significantly since 2003.
DURHAM -- Teen smoking rates in the Tar Heel State are at all-time lows. Recently released results from the 2007 North Carolina Youth Tobacco Survey show smoking among middle school and high school students is down significantly since 2003.
High school sophomore Rheaya Willis is one of the many students who is helping make the change and snuff out smoking among North Carolina’s teens.
"We've met with restaurant owners to convince them to go smoke-free,” Willis explained.
She was on hand Tuesday as state public health officials released the results of the 2007 Youth Tobacco Survey.
"It makes me feel really happy because I feel like I’m part of such a big movement now," she said.
It is a movement that is spreading across the state. According to survey figures, the number of teen smokers in North Carolina has dropped by 34,000 in the last four years.
More than 7,500 middle school and high school students took part in this year's survey. They came from 191 schools from more than 70 school districts across the state.
“North Carolina teen smoking rates are as low as they've ever been in history," said Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue. The Democratic nominee for governor is a member of the group that administers the Youth Tobacco Survey.
“I think you're looking at the capacity to build the first tobacco-free generation in North Carolina," she said.
More than 5,000 teens in the Tar Heel State have already pledged to stay tobacco-free. It is part of Tobacco Reality Unfiltered, called TRU for short, which is a movement to create the first generation of tobacco-free teens in North Carolina, a state where tobacco was once king.
"I think that we should honor and remember the history we have in tobacco but also know the effects," Willis said.