MINNEAPOLIS, May 13, 2008—Adolescent smokers who scale back their tobacco use are still inhaling considerable amounts of cancer-causing chemicals, according to a tobacco research study conducted at the University of Minnesota.

The results are published in the May issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence.  

This study focused on finding out whether adolescents who are not interested in quitting could reduce their cigarette smoking, and whether that reduction corresponded to a decrease in exposure to chemicals found in cigarettes. Volunteer participants included 103 adolescents aged 13-19 years who were students at 14 Minneapolis/St. Paul area high schools between 2002-2004.

“We found that even those adolescents who cut their daily cigarette smoking in half did not correspondingly decrease their exposure to carbon monoxide and cotinine, chemicals found in cigarettes,” said Karen Hanson, Ph.D., lead researcher on the study. Hanson is with the Tobacco Use Research Center, a program of the Masonic Cancer Center.

“Furthermore, we found that after completion of the study, many of the participants resumed their former levels of smoking,” Hanson said. “This may be a reflection of peer pressure, and of the need for smoking cessation and support programs that address the specific issues faced by adolescent smokers so that they are able to quit.”