Up in smoke.

Regan Golden-McNerney, wired with a hidden camera and microphone, entered a convenience store in St. Paul, Minnesota. Film rolling, the 15-year-old walked to the counter and asked for a pack of Marlboro Lights. The clerk tossed the cigarettes onto the counter with barely aglance. Regan paid and turned to go.

Behind Regan, a television reporter with whom she was working witnessed the transaction. As Regan left, the reporter pounced on the clerk:

"Do you know how old that girl was that you sold cigarettes to?"

The clerk, who had broken the law by selling tobacco to a minor, obviously didn't care.

But Regan, a nonsmoker, does. She's one of an army of teens who have enlisted in the fight to prevent other kids from smoking. Right now, according to the U.S. Surgeon General, an estimated 3.1 million U.S. teens light up. They smoke nearly one billion packs of cigarettes each year.

"The tobacco industry says the problem is not that bad, that not many teenagers smoke. Well, a lot of my friends smoke," Regan says.

Though today's teen smokers may not think about their health when they take their first puff, many of them will die prematurely because of their habit. Smoking-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and other respiratory disorders kill more than 400,000 Americans each year. That's a death toll equivalent to three 747 plane crashes every single day--with no survivors.

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HOOKED

"The real tragedy," says Dr. Michael P. Eriksen of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, "is that if tobacco wasn't addictive, kids would try it, find out it's not so great, that it doesn't necessarily win them good friends--and they'd quit. But they become addicted [to nicotine, one of the chief components of cigarettes] in a very short time."

And the teens stay hooked. A recent study asked high school seniors who were pack-a-day smokers if they thought they'd still be smoking in five years. Nearly 9 out of 10 said no way. But five or six years later, 70 percent were still smoking a pack or more.

Not surprising, considering the results of another study of teen smokers: 75 percent said they felt addicted to cigarettes; 73 percent said they had tried to quit at least once--but failed. "I know it's bad for me," says 15-year-old Cameron Johnson of Bellevue, Washington, who smokes occasionally. "Even kids that smoke tell you not to start."

THE SMOKE-FREE PLAN

Getting kids not to start is the latest battle plan in the U.S. Surgeon General's war on smoking. According to Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders, antismoking efforts should shift from simply getting people to quit to preventing teens from becoming addicted in the first place.

One approach: Ban tobacco advertisements that critics say are aimed at young people--the "Joe Camel" cartoon ads, for example.

Another strategy: Enforce the laws that, in most states, make it illegal to sell tobacco products to kids under 18.

That's the whole point of Regan Golden-McNerney's "undercover" cigarette purchases. Last summer, she tried to buy cigarettes in nearly 120 bars, supermarkets, and company lunch rooms to illustrate just how infrequently the laws are enforced. "I was able to buy cigarettes over the counter 78 percent of the time--and I definitely looked 15," says Regan, who is 16 now.

Some of Regan's "sting" operations were aired on the evening news to increase public awareness and force communities to take action. But clearly, something else must be done to convince teens that they shouldn't even want to smoke.

Maybe you can help persuade your peers. Turn to page 11 for a survey you can use to find out what kinds of messages will reach your friends. Then use your findings to devise an effective smoking-prevention plan for your school or community.