February 3, 2012   In the spring of 2008 Iowa lawmakers passed the Smokefree Air Act. It prohibits smoking in almost all public places and enclosed areas within places of employment. A year before that Minnesota passed the Clean Indoor Air Act banning smoking in many of the same places. Studies show the laws in both states are working. Smoking numbers are down but another statistic is on the rise: smokeless tobacco products, and the people using them are getting younger and younger.

“Well there are definitely students in the high school that are using tobacco products,” said Alexandra Dunlay, a high school senior who has friends that use tobacco. “Some people start it just because it’s the cool thing to do or it always starts as a cool thing.” Dunlay says cigarettes and chew are the most popular. “Students see other students doing it and then they decide to so in a way the advertising for adults gets the students doing it,” said Dunlay.

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