Fewer Hawai'i students regularly smoke cigarettes and the number of teens experimenting with the habit is also on the decline, according to a recent survey released by the state Department of Health.

The biannual Youth Tobacco Survey results show a clear trend that teen tobacco use has been on the decline since 2000, officials said. It is being attributed to the state's aggressive effort to counter the millions of dollars spent by the tobacco industry in Hawai'i each year.

"The counter-marketing message is that smoking is not healthy, it's not normal, it's certainly not cool," said Julian Lipsher, tobacco prevention and education program coordinator with the state Department of Health.

"That's why you've seen the rates change," Lipsher said.

The percentage of high school students who report that they smoke cigarettes is down from 24.5 percent in 2000 to 9.7 percent in 2007. For middle school students, the percentage of those smoking has dropped from 12.9 percent in 2000 to 4.2 percent in 2007.

The report also shows a dramatic decline in the number of students who are experimenting with cigarettes. The percentage of middle school students who reported ever trying cigarettes has declined from 38.4 percent in 2000 to 14.7 percent in 2007. Likewise, high schoolers experimenting with cigarettes dropped from 63.3 percent in 2000 to 38.3 percent in 2007.

But while most of the numbers were positive, the percentage of students who say they've used some other form of tobacco is on the rise.

"We are seeing a slight increase in the current use of smokeless tobacco, chewing tobacco," said Dr. Ann Pobutsky, a chronic disease epidemiologist for the Health Department.

"We'll have to wait until the next survey in 2009 to be able to say whether this is some kind of trend," she said.

The tobacco industry has increased its marketing of smokeless products, making them more appealing to teenagers, said Lipsher.

In total, the tobacco industry spends some $42 million on marketing in Hawai'i each year, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. That compares to some $500,000 spent each year by the state to spread its anti-tobacco message, Lipsher said.

Lipsher also pointed out that the state will be monitoring data on children using the Internet to purchase tobacco products. That's because this year's survey showed a very slight increase in youths using online tobacco vendors.

"The effects of a comprehensive control strategy will pay off dividends," Lipsher said. "Think of the fewer cases of lung cancer ... and other chronic diseases that are caused by smoking that will be prevented."

The survey is administered jointly by the state Department of Health and the state Department of Education to public school students in grades 6 to 12. It began in 2000 and is conducted every two years.