Teen Tobacco Use: Prevalence
 

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[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]
For some time, researchers have estimated that 3,000 young people become regular smokers everyday [1], but a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found this estimate to be only part of the shocking story. The CDC's 1998 report found:
  • More than 1.2 million Americans under 18 started smoking daily in 1996, up from 708,000 in 1988.
  • More than 6,000 persons under the age of 18 try their first cigarette each day.
  • More than 3,000 persons under the age of 18 become daily smokers every day.
  • More than 66 percent of all new smokers in 1996 were under the age of 18.
  • At least 4.5 million adolescents (aged 12-17) in the US smoke cigarettes.
  • Young people vastly underestimate the addictiveness of nicotine.
  • Seventy percent of adolescent smokers wish they had never started smoking in the first place.
  • The number of American teenagers taking up smoking as a daily habit jumped 73 percent between 1988 and 1996.
The CDC believes that tobacco ads, like the Joe Camel campaign, which made its debut in 1988, were partly to blame (more). The CDC study concluded that the most effective way of preventing youth tobacco use and helping adolescents quit is a comprehensive program that includes:
  • increasing tobacco prices,
  • reducing youth access,
  • conducting school-based prevention programs,
  • regulating tobacco products and tobacco advertising, and
  • decreasing tobacco use by parents and other influential role models.

[1]Pierce, J, et al., "Trends in Cigarette Smoking in the United States," Journal of the American Medical Association, 1989, 261:1:61-65.

Sources:
MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEK, (10/9/98 ) "Incidence of Initiation of Cigarette Smoking - United States,1965-1996", p. 837

WASHINGTON POST, (10/9/98) "Daily Smoking By Teens Has Risen Sharply", Associated Press, p. A3

NEW YORK TIMES, (10/9/98) "Youth Smoking Rises 73% In 9 Years", Associated Press, p. A12

USA TODAY, (10/9/98) "Since Joe Camel's Debut, New Teen Smoking Up 73%", p. A10

WALL STREET JOURNAL, (10/9/98) "Smoking By Youths In U.S. Is Rising, Researchers Find", p. B9

REUTERS, (10/8/98)"More Teens Starting To Smoke, Says U.S. Study", Mike Cooper

 
Approximately 1,000 of the 3,000 children who become regular smokers each day - or 5 million children who are alive today - will eventually die as a result of their smoking addiction.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, "Projected Smoking-Related Deaths Among Youth - United States," 1996.
 
More than 3 million Americans adolescents currently smoke.
Center for Disease Control (CDC), "Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People, A Report of the Surgeon General," 1994.
 
More than 1 million adolescent males use spit tobacco.
Center for Disease Control (CDC), "Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People, A Report of the Surgeon General," 1994.
 
Ninety percent of current smokers began smoking as teenagers.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC), "Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People, A Report of the Surgeon General," 1994.
 
Between 1991 and 1994, the prevalence of smoking increased in each of the three grades surveyed as follows:
 
  1991 1994
Eighth graders 14.3% 18.6%
Tenth graders 20.8% 25.4%
Twelfth graders 28.3% 31.2%
 
National Survey Results on Drug Use from the "Monitoring the Future Study, 1975-1994," The University of Michigan.

 

The age of first use of tobacco is now between the ages of 11 to 15 years of age.
NIDA, Drug Abuse Among American High School Seniors, College Students and Young Adults, 1991.
 
The younger people are when they first begin to smoke, the more likely they will become heavy smokers.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC), "Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People, A Report of the Surgeon General," 1994.
 
The younger people are when they first begin to smoke, the less likely they will be to successfully quit later.
NIDA, Drug Abuse Among American High School Seniors, College Students and Young Adults, 1991.
 
Youth tend to underestimate the likelihood that they will become addicted. Almost 75% of daily smokers in high school still smoke 7 to 9 years later, even though when asked in high school only 5% thought they would be smoking 5 years later.
NIDA, Drug Abuse Among American High School Seniors, College Students and Young Adults, 1991.
 
Among smokers aged 12-17 years old, 70% already regret their decision to smoke and 66% state that they want to quit.
The George H. Gallup International Institute, "Teenage Attitudes and Behavior Concerning Tobacco," 1992.
 
Each year children consume between 516 million and 947 million packs of cigarettes and 26 million containers of spit tobacco. [note: This represents between $1 billion and $2 billion in estimated revenue.]
Cummings, K.M., et al., "The Illegal Sale of Cigarettes to U.S.. Minors: Estimates by State," American Journal of Public Health, 1994, 84:2:300-302.
 
The prevalence of smoking among young people has failed to decline for more than a decade. Alarmingly, children are smoking at an increasing rate.
National Survey Results on Drug Use from the Monitoring the Future Study, 1975-1994," The University of Michigan.
   
 

 [source: Stop Teenage Addiction to Tobacco (STAT), phone: 413.732.7828]