From the ArcaMax Publishing, Parents Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/parents/s-380236-189687
BOSTON (UPI) -- Children with easy access to cigarettes are more
likely to end up regular smokers, particularly if their friends smoke,
U.S. researchers say.
"We found that if you get kids to answer just two simple questions --
'would it be easy for you to get a cigarette?' and 'do you have
friends who smoke?' -- you can identify those who are at high risk of
becoming regular smokers," lead author Chyke Doubeni of the University
of Massachusetts Medical School said in a statement. "Saying yes to
either should raise a red flag and prompt doctors and others to talk
with parents and kids about how to avoid smoking."
Doubeni and colleagues interviewed 1,195 sixth-graders in
Massachusetts who had never before attempted to smoke, or who smoked
less than once a week and then tracked them from January 2002 to
February 2006.
The study, published in the Annals of Family Medicine, found 177
students tried out smoking and 109 became regular smokers. All those
who picked up the habit either agreed with the statement "it would be
easy for me to get a cigarette" or acknowledged having a friend who
smoked -- or both.