Public education campaign heightens awareness that youth model authorities' tobacco use

To evaluate whether people changed their views about acceptability of authority figures smoking after an anti-tobacco initiative, randomly selected southeastern U.S. voters (801 in 2001; 806 in 2002) responded to a 20-minute telephone interview. Acceptability attitudes held steady: most (80.8%) said that any authority figures' smoking in front of youth is unacceptable, with women, minorities, and never-smokers even surer than their counterparts. However, there was a change in 2002, with respondents more strongly recognizing that youth model adults' tobacco behaviors and attitudes. An implication is that media campaigns may benefit from emphasizing that youth model adults' tobacco use.