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Underage smoking in Australia is still a major concern, although the Australian government has reduced the number of smokers each year, through numerous and intensive anti-smoking campaigns ((National Tobacco Campaign )). As a result, from these campaigns, statics have been recorded and compared from surveys completed throughout Australia, showing how the numbers of underage smokers have drastically decreased in the years between 1991 and 2013. However, adolescents are still being influenced to try smoking, such influences include: family, advertising and school. The amount of advertising that is being publicised, is still striking attention in adolescent’s minds, this is why tobacco smoking is still relatively popular among young people in Australia. The broadcasts promoting smoking are found to be highly influential to the targeted audience, regardless of age, however it is young people who it is affecting the most. Almost all smokers start while they are young, and studies have found that nearly all first time smoking experiences take place during high school years. The younger a person is when they start smoking, commonly tobacco, the more likely the person is to use it as an adult; which results in having more trouble quitting, as opposed to starting smoking later on in life. Substances that are commonly smoked by adolescents in Australia include cigarettes, marijuana, hookahs and electronic cigarettes. It is known that while being an adolescent and smoking, there is an increased higher risk of establishing a smoking addiction rapidly, with adolescent smokers forming a sense of dependence. This is consistently initiated with smoking cigarettes, as nicotine is the addictive drug found in tobacco smoke. Adolescents taking part in the commencement of smoking don’t take into consideration the struggle of being able to quit, as smoking can destroy their education and bring upon many smoking-related health complications. == History == Underage smoking in Australia has taken a big turn throughout the years and has dropped the percentage of adolescents smoking drastically. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) conducted surveys detailing daily smokers, they conducted these surveys in the years between 1991-2013. The survey in 2013 collected information from almost 24,000 and the results showed that “there has been a significant decrease in daily smokers aged 14 years or older in Australia, falling from 16.6% in 2007, 15.1% in 2010, to 12.8% in 2013.” Barola and White from the Drug Strategy Branch in the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing reported that in 2011, the overall rate of current smoking among Australian students aged 12 to 15 years was 6.7%. Within that amount 4.1% were current smokers between the ages of 12 and 15, the ratio included males taking up 4.4% and females 3.8%. Whereas 12.9% of 16- and 17-year-olds were current smokers, and that worked out to be males 13.4% and females 12.3%. These figures are calculated from 25,000 Australian students who took part in this survey. The AIHW reported that high levels of tobacco control activities in the community have contributed to the drop in smoking rates among students. These control activities that the community helped instigate included anti-smoking media campaigns, the increase of tobacco tax, restrictions of advertising and the sales of tobacco products, smoking bans in public places, and graphic health warnings on cigarette packs, alongside multiple more. It was noted that education and tobacco control measures are also important, so that adolescents are aware and understand the harms of smoking and secondhand smoke, and are therefore less likely to start smoking underage.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Underage smoking in Australia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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