I hadn't seen the report before John. I am glad to see it happening here though, as I would be glad to see it happening in any area. I don't think I can take any credit for it though for I haven't really done much work in smoking prevention in Chicago itself for quite some time now. I have been doing most of my prevention and cessation work in the suburban areas north of Chicago. Just didn't want it to appear that we were trying to take credit where no credit was due.
While the article doesn't come up with a specific reason as to why youth smoking has dropped, I do suspect that a major factor was a big tax increase put on cigarettes within the past year. The price jumped almost an extra dollar per pack by a recent increase, making the cost of cigarettes throughout cook county probably the highest in the state and among the highest priced in the nation. It is well known that increasing the cost of cigarettes usually translates to a decline in kids smoking rates. Whatever the cause the kids who are not taking up smoking are reaping great benefits by hopefully never having to deal with smoking or to deal with quitting.