Bill Press is a syndicated columnist and the co-host of CNN's Crossfire, which airs Monday-Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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Bill Press: Who says sex is worse than lung cancer?

By Bill Press
Tribune Media Services

WASHINGTON (Tribune Media Services) -- It must be hard for teenagers these days. They don't know who to believe. First, they're told not to smoke. Now, they're told they'd be better off smoking than having sex. No wonder they're confused.

According to a report released this week by the Medical Institute of Austin, Texas, the increasingly casual attitude of teenagers toward sex is "more dangerous than smoking."

Dr. Joe McIlhaney, president and founder of the Institute, says teens don't realize all the emotional, physical, spiritual and psychological problems sex can cause. "They don't know in their minds any reason to stop or not to engage in sexual behavior. Nobody's taught them how much they can be hurt by it."

If teenagers don't know, this report spells it out. Not only can sex result in pregnancy, it can also lead to genital warts, genital herpes, some other sexually-transmitted disease or, even more serious: HIV. For young people, argues McIlhaney, that's even worse than getting lung cancer: "Sex hurts them while they're teenagers. Smoking will hurt them later."

Summing up, here's what the Medical Institute of Austin is telling teenagers: It's better neither to smoke nor have sex. But, if you have to do one or the other, for God's sake, smoke. Because you'll be hurt more by getting herpes or warts now than by dying of lung cancer later, when you're a shriveled-up, old man or woman.

What utter garbage! If grown-ups talk like that to teenagers, no wonder they laugh in our faces.

There's so much wrong with this report, it's hard to know where to begin. Let's start with the fact that you can't scare teenagers out of having sex. No matter how many horror stories we tell, teenagers simply don't believe they're going to die -- not when they can't even sit still because their bodies are pulsating with such hormonal energy. It doesn't do any good to tell them certain favorite body parts will fall off if they are foolish enough to have sex before they're married. They won't believe you, and they shouldn't.

The far more realistic, and credible, message to teenagers is this: Sex is very special, but sex can also create problems. Sex is not something to be rushed into or done casually. This is one of the first adult decisions you will make, and one you should not make lightly. Abstinence is the best policy. But, if you do have sex, be sure you know and trust your partner, and take proper precautions. Insist on practicing safe sex. Here's what a condom looks like, here's how to use it, here's where to find them.

But the Medical Institute's report not only overstates the danger of sex, it Grossly understates the dangers of smoking. It is simply not true that smoking is risk-free for teens. Or that the consequences of teen smoking can be delayed until later in life, when nobody cares whether you live or die. That is the biggest lie about cigarettes since tobacco executives swore under oath to Congress they didn't know nicotine was addictive.

The teen years, in fact, are when smoking is the most dangerous - because that's when people get hooked for life. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, each day more than 6,000 kids under 18 try smoking for the first time. Another 3,000 become daily smokers. That's more than one million new underage smokers every year -- and roughly one-third of them will eventually die prematurely because of smoking.

That's why tobacco companies spend billions in advertising aimed at making smoking seem fun and sexy. They know that 90 percent of chain smokers begin at or before the age of 18. We know that 5 million kids alive today will ultimately die from tobacco-related diseases if they continue smoking.

With its bogus report, the Medical Institute of Austin joins a host of organizations and individuals, like Rev. Jerry Falwell, who are willing to say or do anything to dissuade teenagers from having sex. First, they tried faith. That didn't work. Now, they're trying fear. That won't work either. Because kids are smart enough to see through the smokescreen.

There is much wisdom that adults can share with teenagers about sex. But telling them that sex is more dangerous than smoking is not only wrong, it's immoral.