Advertising may be responsible for as much as 30 percent of alcohol and tobacco use, the When Camel cigarettes started an ad campaign using a cartoon camel as its mascot, its market share went from 0.5 percent of teen smokers to 32 percent. "Although parents, schools and the federal government are trying to get children and teenagers to 'just say no' to drugs, more than $25 billion worth of cigarette, alcohol and prescription drug advertising is effectively working to get them to 'just say yes' to smoking, drinking and other drugs," wrote the policy's Every year, more than 400,000 people in the United States die from smoking related illness, according to the policy statement. And, more than 100,000 deaths can be attributed to excessive alcohol consumption.

The American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't want children exposed to tobacco ads at all, and wants to limit their exposure to alcohol marketing and for erectile dysfunction drugs and other prescription medications. And, exposure to tobacco marketing more than doubles the risk of a. Those are just a few of the recommendations in its new policy statement, "Children, Adolescents, Substance Abuse, and the Media," published in the October issue of Pediatrics.

The AAP is targeting advertising because it works.