9:02am Wednesday 28th May 2008
By Jane Lavender
TEENAGERS are being recruited to help slash the number of young smokers in Bolton.
A band of youngsters aged between 11 and 19 will form a special fighting group, in a scheme being led by the Primary Care Trust.
They will devise an action plan and introduce a number of initiatives aimed at persuading their peers to quit the habit.
News of the move comes as figures released by the PCT reveal 13 per cent of 12 to 15-year-olds in Bolton regularly smoke Health chiefs want to harness the enthusiasm of young non-smokers to help persuade people to quit - or prevent them from taking up cigarettes in the first place.
Smoke-free community worker Sharon Tongue said: "This is so important because there's a lot of evidence to show youth advocacy is a good way of dealing with young people and smoking because, it's people in their peer group giving them advice and encouraging them not to smoke.
"Peer pressure can be a powerful force when it comes to taking up smoking in the first place but it can be as equally powerful force in helping people give up or preventing them from starting.
"Whatever this group do and how they tackle the problem will be down to them."
The group, which will be run entirely by the young people involved, will be based on similar schemes already up and running in both New York and Liverpool.
Teenagers will think of ways of persuading their peers to stub it out and produce anti-smoking campaigns aimed at young people.
Anecdotal evidence indicates the number of teenage girls in Bolton, especially young Asian women, who smoke is increasing, while the number of boys regularly lighting up is falling.
Younger children have already been recruited in the fight against smoking as part of the Bolton Kids Against Tobacco Smoke (B KATS), which aims to teach them about the dangers of smoking and encourage them to never take up the habit.
The Government is also cracking down on young smokers, with plans just announced that could see packs of 10 cigarettes banned, vending machines outlawed and tobacco products forced under the counter.
This comes on top of the raising of the legal smoking age from 16 to 18 last October and the introduction of the smoking ban in July, 2007.
Anyone who would like to sign up to be part of the youth advocacy group should call 01204 462173.
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