Little tobacco rush in Alaska

Tobacco smoking among Alaska’s high school students has declined dramatically in recent years, according to an Associated Press story.

Comparing data from six years ago with that gathered from a spring survey, the number of “smoking” students was down by 40 percent.

This year, 10.6 percent of students were “smokers” compared with 17.8 percent in 2007. To be a smoker a student had to have smoked at least one cigarette during the 30 days prior to the survey.

“These are great numbers,” said the state’s chief medical officer, Ward Hurlburt, during a briefing in Anchorage. “It’s wonderful news.

“We also know that there remains much work to be done. The tobacco companies continue to aggressively target young Alaskans, and we need to remain vigilant in our fight to combat that message.”

The survey looked at nearly 1,250 students from 43 high schools that were said to have been randomly selected.