SMOKING RISES AMONG MINORITY TEENS

Surgeon general's report warns of `time bomb' for young tobacco
users

WASHINGTON -- The first surgeon general's report to focus on the
smoking rates of racial and ethnic groups showed Monday that, while
the overall use of tobacco is declining among adults, it has begun to
rise among minority teenagers, creating a ``time bomb'' for minority
populations.

Unveiling the report by Surgeon General David Satcher in the White
House Rose Garden, President Clinton cited it as new evidence that
Congress should pass sweeping legislation that protects children from
tobacco companies that direct advertising at young people.

``They are still becoming the targets of highly sophisticated
marketing campaigns,'' said Clinton, surrounded by junior and senior
high school students. ``They are replacement smokers of the
advertisers' strategy. But they are our children, and we can't replace
them.''

The report on minority smoking habits looked at four ethnic groups --
blacks, Hispanics, Asian-Americans/Pacific Islanders and American
Indians/Alaska Natives -- that together make up a quarter of the
nation's population. It concluded that black men ``bear one of the
greatest health burdens.''

Although deaths from lung cancer are declining, the study found, it
remains the leading cause of cancer death for all four racial and
ethnic groups, with black men having the highest lung cancer death
rate.

Moreover, the report said black men who contract lung cancer are 50
percent more likely to die from it than their white counterparts. But
the study also said researchers could not explain the difference.

The study echoed findings of a report released earlier this month by
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that showed smoking by
black students -- once hailed as a success story for their continually
low cigarette use -- has almost doubled.

Smoking among black teens has increased 80 percent over the past six
years, three times as fast as among white students, the study said.

And the general trend toward fewer lung cancer deaths could change if
minority teens' smoking rates continue to rise. In the past, minority
teens were a success story for public health advocates because of
their relatively low smoking rates. But now they are catching up with
white teens. Smoking rates are especially high among Hispanic high
school students (34 percent smoke cigarettes), while almost 40 percent
of white teens smoke cigarettes.

Clinton turned up the volume on his demand that Congress stop
bickering over ``complicated'' details of tobacco policy and pass a
sweeping bill this year that would reduce teen smoking rates.

But leading Republicans criticized Clinton for not proposing a
specific solution.

``The president has not provided leadership on the tobacco issue,''
said Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.

``He's provided lots of rhetoric, lots of talk. And he's not shown any
real courage in saying what things can be done, what things must be
done in order to achieve something that will pass,'' said Lott.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, complained
that even if Clinton refrains from proposing his own tobacco
legislation, he has called for ingredients like price increases that
would bankrupt the tobacco industry and drive young people to marijuana.