RALEIGH -- While the percentage of adults smoking has declined substantially since the Surgeon General first warned of the dangers of tobacco 50 years ago, advocates say more is needed to keep young people from starting. 

Pam Seamans, executive director of the North Carolina Alliance for Health, says she is concerned that what advocates saw as a very positive program is no longer available. "Just as we were really hitting a stride with the Tobacco: Reality Unfiltered program and other media efforts, the programs have now been cut and the funding for these really successful and effective measures have dried up," she said.

She does give credit for the continuation of a "quit line" that allows those wanting to kick the habit to get information on how to start the process.