Regarding the press release on Kick Butts Day, the Commonwealth Cancer Association said it contained CNMI youth smoking data from 2000.
More recent statistics are now available from the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted by the Public School System.
In 2000, nearly 55 percent of middle school and 85 percent of high school students reported smoking in the last 30 days. In 2009, nearly 20 percent of middle school and 27 percent of high school students had reported smoking in the last 30 days — indicating a marked decrease in CNMI youth smoking since 2000, though still among the highest youth smoking rates in the nation today, according to CCA.
