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MASSIVE ADVERTIZING SPENDING. "In 2008, the tobacco industry spent nearly $10 billion on advertizing, especially trying to attract young women and teenage girls." http://lnkd.in/dZbDr9W View in LinkedIn

UVENILE BRAINS are more biochemically susceptible to addiction than older brains, as we will see in a later section. The ideal configuration for tobacco strategies. Young rebels, wanting to seem grown up, and experimenting with many new things, are are perfect target market, unless they happen to be your kids. View in LinkedIn

"ADOLESCENCE is a critical period of vulnerability for the onset of smoking ... Approximately 80% of smokers initiate tobacco use before age 18 ... As compared to their adult counterparts, juveniles more readily develop symptoms of tobacco dependence ...and those who begin smoking in early adolescence are more likely to experience difficulty in quitting than those who start at later ages." http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v32/n9/full/1301327a.html View in LinkedIn

ROLE MODELS IN MOVIES. "Social norms portrayed in tobacco advertising and in movies promote smoking in young people." http://lnkd.in/d9mSkKY View in LinkedIn

ADOLESCENT SWEET SPOT. "Smoking and smokeless tobacco use are initiated and established primarily during adolescence. Nearly 9 out of 10 smokers started smoking by age 18, and 99% started by age 26. In 2012, 6.7% of middle school and 23.3% of high school students currently used tobacco products." http://lnkd.in/d9mSkKY View in LinkedIn

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE YOUNG MARKET. "If a man has never smoked by age 18, the odds are three-to-one he never will. By age 21, the odds are twenty-to-one." This stunning fact is why tobacco companies have always targeted youth. " "2014_06_19_DesignedforAddiction_web.pdf View in LinkedIn

RECENT PHENOMENON. "Men in the US began smoking cigarettes in large numbers in the early 20th century, but it wasn’t until decades later that large numbers of women began smoking regularly. In addition, women who began smoking in the 1950s or later started smoking at an earlier age and smoked more heavily." http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/risk-of-lung-cancer-death-increased-during-last-50-years-for-women-smokers View in LinkedIn

USA COSTS OF SMOKING. "During 2000–2004, the value of cigarettes sold in the United States averaged $71 billion per year, while cigarette smoking was responsible for an estimated $193 billion in annual health-related economic losses." Thus, even if tobacco tax was 90%, the net shortfall is still $129.1 billion per year. http://lnkd.in/drxbEtM View in LinkedIn

SURGEON GENERAL'S REPORT. "Smokers's risk of death from all causes, compared to those who never smoked, has gone up significantly over the past 50 years ... "today" cigarette smokers ... have a much higher risk of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than smokers in 1964, despite smoking fewer cigarettes" http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/press_releases/post/2014_01_17_sgr50_cigarettes_deadlier View in LinkedIn

GIANT INDUSTRY. "The global tobacco industry (is) likely approach $500 Bn/yr. In 2010, the combined profits of the six leading tobacco companies was U.S. $35.1 billion, equal to the combined profits of Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and McDonald’s ... If Big Tobacco were a country, it would have a ... GDP of countries like Poland, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Venezuela." http://lnkd.in/drxbEtM View in LinkedIn