Collaboration is critical:

There are only three tobacco companies with youth smoking prevention programs. Their efforts are coordinated and effective partially because they have a simple message (Don't smoke until you're a grown up!) and they have outlets and staff all over the country that can consistently carry their message. Tobacco prevention efforts are spread through numerous states and provinces, local governments, law enforcement, schools and non profits. There are hundreds and hundreds of tobacco control advocates from many different disciplines and governments. Many of these agencies are not funded for tobacco control and funding that is available often carries many obligations that can spread us even more thin. The groups said in many different ways that we need to find strategies to bridge these gaps, develop more consistency, share information and take advantage of our strong local connections.

Keeping up with youth:

Youth culture, by definition, is designed to be different from the dominant culture, have its own language and align itself against adult norms. Youth have a different way of speaking and being in the world. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but we have to learn to reach youth on their terms and that requires listening to youth. Youth want to fit in and belong. The groups said again and again that learning and listening to youth was a central ingredient to being able to change their attitudes and behaviors around tobacco use.

Policy and legislation are important:

The groups focused a great deal on evaluating existing policy for effectiveness and developing new policies and legislation that had promise for impacting youth access issues. Almost every group had concerns, ideas and directions that hinged on changing policy either at the federal, state or local level. There was broad recognition that good strategic policy included effective programs and legislation rooted in science with an eye toward being coordinated and comprehensive.

Attendees collaborate on issues in workgroup sessions

We need more research:

Attendees were in broad agreement that there is a need to test out theories about what would most effectively impact social sources of tobacco. What has worked and hasn't? The groups wanted to find out more information about state and local projects that made a difference and why they were successful. In order to make this happen there was a great deal of interest in a clearinghouse and more opportunities to share results and outcomes from successful or unsuccessful projects.

Parents are part of the problem and the solution:

The data shows that parents are critical in shaping norms for youth in both positive and negative ways. Group after group mentioned parents as a key focal point for challenging both supply and demand for tobacco products among youth. Parents were identified as a common source of tobacco either by providing tobacco to youth directly or by indirectly by not keeping their tobacco locked and away from their children's reach. One example of a way to limit this source of tobacco was to implement cessation programs targeted at parents to help break their addiction and show effective role modeling.

Enforcement:

Making laws and policies that routinely go without enforcement can actually be worse than having no policy at all. Again and again groups came back to the idea that laws and policies need to be comprehensive, meaning that each part of the community responsible for enforcement must be supportive and willing to do their part to make the law or policy work. The changing of social norms around tobacco use and its social acceptability is dependent on conveying a consistent message to youth but also to community partners who will need to see the importance of follow through.