The following excerpt of a deposition from the person now in charge of the PM YSP is quite remarkable in the apparent failure to acknowledge the most fundamental factors associated with youth tobacco use.  One can only conclude that either the person is incompetent or a blatant liar.    

Q. “Nearly all first use of tobacco occurs before high school graduation.”

A. I don’t know.

Q. “If adolescents can be kept tobacco free, most will never start smoking.”

A. I have not studied that, I don’t know.

Q. “Most adolescent smokers are addicted to nicotine and report that they want to quit but are unable to do so.”

A. I’ve seen data that suggests that it’s not necessarily true that most young people report that they want to quit  smoking.  The first portion of your question about addiction, I have no idea.

Q. “Tobacco is often the first drug used by those young people who use alcohol, marijuana and other drugs."

A. I have no idea

Q. “Adolescents with lower levels of school achievement are more likely than their peers to use tobacco.”

A. I’ve seen data from a number of sources that reports that young people under the age of 18 who have weaker school performance are more inclined to smoke than young people who have stronger school performance.

Q. “Adolescents with friends who use tobacco are more likely than their peers to use tobacco.”

A. That information is commonly reported in a number of studies that friends influence young people’s desire, you know, whether they smoke or don’t smoke.

Q. “Adolescents with lower self-images are more likely than their peers to use tobacco.”

A. That ties to the whole notion of risk factors that we talked about earlier, that adolescents with lower self-esteem are more likely to experiment with cigarettes than those with higher self-esteem.

Q. “Cigarette advertising appears to increase young people’s risk of smoking by affecting their perceptions of the pervasiveness, image and function of smoking.”

A. I have no knowledge of that

Q. “Tobacco tax increases are successful in reducing adolescents’ use of tobacco.”

A. I don’t have an opinion on that. 

Q. “Cigarette advertisements in the print media have become more pervasive, replacing words with images to portray the attractiveness and function of smoking.”

A. I have no opinion on that.

Q. You don’t know whether that’s true or not?

A. Right.

Q. “Cigarette advertising uses human models to display images of youthful activities, independence, healthfulness and adventure seeking.”

A. It’s my understanding a model needs to be 25 or older in order to be in a cigarette ad.

Q. Let me read it again.  “Cigarette advertising uses human models to display images of youthful activities, independence, healthfulness and adventure seeking.”

A. I don’t have an opinion on that.

Q. “In presenting attractive images of smokers, cigarette advertisements appear to stimulate some adolescents who have relatively low self-images to adopt smoking as a way to improve their own self-image.”

A.  No knowledge.

Q. “Cigarette advertising affects adolescents’ perception of pervasiveness of smoking, images of smoking, and the function of smoking.”

A. No knowledge.