The importance of social sources of cigarettes to school students

Abstract

Objective: To discover the importance of social sources of tobacco to young people as opposed to commercial sources; to describe the peer market for cigarettes in schools and the consequences for young people of their involvement in it. Study design: Cross sectional questionnaire survey, one-to-one interviews, and focus groups. Setting: Seven schools in Birmingham, UK. Subjects: All students in two randomly selected classes from each school completed the questionnaire, and never smokers, occasional smokers, and regular smokers were interviewed. Results: Two thirds of occasional smokers and one quarter of regular smokers obtained cigarettes socially, mostly for free. A few smokers regularly bought their cigarettes from others. Among friendship groups, both smokers and non-smokers were involved in the exchange of cigarettes, often for money, which is a common activity. A few young people use the selling of cigarettes to fund their own smoking. Some young people, smokers and non-smokers, are involved in semi-commercial selling of cigarettes. All school students are aware of where to purchase cigarettes from non-friends, which is only used "in emergency" because of the high price. One school had a strong punishment policy for students caught with cigarettes. In this school, more people bought singles from the peer market and the price was higher. Conclusions: The passing and selling of cigarettes in school is a common activity, which from the young persons perspective, ensures that all share cross counter purchases. A few people are prepared to use the peer market for monetary gain and it appears to be responsive to external conditions. The peer market might mean that efforts to control illegal sales of cigarettes are not as effective as hoped.

Buying and Selling “Loosies” in Baltimore: The Informal Exchange of Cigarettes in the Community Context

“…40,41 These theories are typically applied to commerce within developing countries, 42,43 but also may be an appropriate model for understanding the sale of single cigarettes in Sandtown-Winchester. Previous research has applied theories of the informal economy to the exchange of cigarettes among school children when access to commercial sources was made increasingly restricted, 44 whereby markets emerged that were centered around so called Bvending peers^who recognized the economic opportunity for selling cigarettes to classmates. In our study, vendors tend not to be schoolchildren, nor necessarily young adults, but rather, people in the community with a need for cash to meet daily living needs (including, but not limited to, money for illicit drugs).…”

Changes in Adolescents’ Sources of Cigarettes

“…Estimates of the proportion of teens who buy cigarettes in stores have been even more diverse, varying from 6.6% of middle school students [11] to 89% of 12-to 19-year-olds [10]. Findings regarding vending machine use are similar: one study [12] found that no young teens acknowledged using machines, whereas 44% admitted use in another study [10].…”

“…To further complicate matters, the number of response options presented has ranged from as few as three sources [21] to as many as 14 [12]. In fact, there does not appear to be any agreed-upon list of possible responses.…”

“…Questions regarding sources have been framed in many different ways. For example, some researchers have asked about the usual source, allowing teens to pick one response [11][12][13]. Others have allowed endorsement of multiple sources [14 -16].…”

Assessment of smoking behaviors of 2509 Turkish university students and its correlates: a cross-sectional study

“…Schools provide a route for communicating with a large proportion of young people and more school-based programmes for smoking prevention are developed (35)(36)(37)(38). Cognitive and pharmacological therapy used for tobacco cessation among youth.…”