Tobacco use among adolescents remains a serious public health problem. Recently, social skills interventions have been shown to significantly reduce the onset of new smoking in adolescent populations; this work has set the stage for large scale dissemination efforts aimed at reducing tobacco use prevalence. This project will evaluate a state-wide effort designed to encourage such dissemination. A bill recently passed by the Minnesota State Legislature will provide nearly four million dollars in state funds over the next two years to promote smoking prevention and cessation through school programs, community activites and state-wide campaigns. This effort promises to be the largest and most intense nonsmoking program ever funded by a state government. This proposal seeks to evaluate this state-wide initiative for its effect on adolescent tobacco-use prevalence. Representative schools from Wisconsin and Minnesota will be surveyed annually for five years to test for any divergence in prevalence trends. A randomized trial in Minnesota will provide additional evidence on the causal linkage between the Minnesota Nonsmoking Initiative and adolescent prevalence rates. The Minnesota program, if effective, could provide a model to other states for the large scale prevention of tobacco use by adolescents.
