Illinois needs to do more to stop Tobacco use in High Schools

Reports have come out that nearly 1 in 4 High Schoolers in Illinois are using tobacco, and the state is spending pennies to combat this problem.

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According to an article from myjournalcourier.com, Illinois teens are using tobacco at a high rate, nearly 1 in 4 high schoolers use tobacco. All of the data in this article comes from the State of Tobacco Control report, and in the article they say...

"The American Lung Association remains highly concerned about the nearly 23% of Illinois high school students using some form of tobacco, driven in large part by e-cigarettes, especially flavored e-cigarettes."

They go on to say something I find pretty alarming...

"The report notes that Illinois spends about $12 million on total funding for state tobacco control programs, nowhere near the $136 million that some experts argue should be the goal."

To read the full article for yourself click here! 

To be honest, this report is pretty concerning to me, I personally know heavy tobacco users and the effects of their use on their health is dramatic. To me what is most concerning is that many of these high school-age kids are getting into things like vaping without knowing the possible long-term effects and the cost becoming addicted to tobacco will have on them, some of these kids you can imagine are not even 18 years old yet and have already started. I think the state of Illinois should be pretty embarrassed that they are only spending 10% of what the experts argue you should be spending to combat this tobacco use, you can't force kids not to smoke and use tobacco, but you have to be properly educating them on what can happen if they do.