摘要：This study provides additional evidence that Florida’s “truth” tobacco countermarketing campaign was successful in reducing smoking among Florida teens. Smoking rates were substantially lower among Florida teens between fall 2001 and spring 2002, whereas previous studies found that smoking rates were comparable before the launch of “truth.” Florida teens had higher levels of “truth” campaign awareness and were more likely to agree with campaign-targeted beliefs; 2 of these beliefs were the only items associated with current smoking. The Florida Tobacco Control Program began in April 1998 with the launch of the “truth” countermarketing campaign, which was funded by Florida’s 1997 settlement with the tobacco industry. “truth” messages have described the tobacco industry’s purposeful attempts to market a harmful product to teens and its denial of cigarettes’ addictive and deadly effects. “truth” also has sought to empower teens by urging them to join the statewide youth antitobacco group, Students Working Against Tobacco, to disseminate campaign messages interpersonally, and to rally support for tobacco control policy. Florida youth smoking rates declined rapidly, 1 and evidence suggests that the “truth” campaign contributed to these reductions in the first year of the program. 2, 3 However, the program has faced substantial budget cuts in recent years. 4 In this report, we provide additional evidence of the success of Florida’s tobacco countermarketing campaign more than 2 years into the program using data from the Legacy Media Tracking Survey (LMTS), a national survey of teens that includes a large sample from Florida. Published reports indicate that Florida teens and their national counterparts (excluding states with comprehensive programs) had comparable industry beliefs and smoking behavior before the launch of the Florida Tobacco Control Program (42.1% of Florida teens were lifetime smokers and 13.8% were current smokers; nationally, the figures were 40.7% and 12.6%, respectively). 2 The national “truth” campaign, modeled closely after Florida’s “truth” campaign and featuring a similar counterindustry message strategy, was debuted in early 2000 and was responsible for notable changes in beliefs about the tobacco industry and smoking intentions. However, the magnitude of effects was consistent across states. 5 Thus, any differences observed in Florida in late 2000 and early 2001 are probably attributable to the efforts of the state campaign. A possible campaign effect can be inferred if the following are found to exist: (1) campaign awareness was higher among Florida youths, (2) Florida youths held stronger campaign-targeted attitudes and beliefs, (3) nontargeted attitudes and beliefs were comparable among Florida teens and among teens nationwide, and (4) campaign-targeted attitudes and beliefs were strongly associated with smoking behavior among Florida teens. 6
