TOBACCO USE AMONG YOUTH
(www.tobaccofreekids.org)

More than 2.8 million kids under the age of 18 are current tobacco users.
Source: 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health data.
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2K8NSDUH/tabs/Sect2peTabs17to21.pdf

See, also, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report of the
Surgeon General, 1994. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, United States,
2007,” MMWR 57(SS-4), June 6, 2008; 2006 National Youth Tobacco Survey; U.S. Census Bureau.

• One-fifth of our children are current smokers by the time they leave high school.
Source: University of Michigan, Monitoring the Future Study, 2008.
http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/data/08data/pr08cig1.pdf

• 13.1 percent of 10th graders and 6.5 percent of 8th graders are current smokers.
Source: University of Michigan, Monitoring the Future Study, 2009.
http://monitoringthefuture.org/data/09data/pr09cig1.pdf

• More than 6.3 million children under age 18 alive today will eventually die from smoking-related disease, unless
current rates are reversed.
Source: CDC, State Highlights 2006. See, also, U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), "CDC's April 2002 Report on Smoking:
Estimates of Selected Health Consequences of Cigarette Smoking Were Reasonable," letter to U.S. Rep. Richard Burr, July 16, 2003,
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03942r.pdf.

• 20 percent of all high school students are current smokers. (21.3 percent of males and 18.7 percent of females).
Source: CDC, 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Using a different survey methodology, the 2006 Youth Tobacco Survey (YTS) found
a 19.7% high school smoking rate (18.4% for girls, 21.2% for boys); but the results from the YRBS and YTS cannot be compared
because they use different methodologies. Current smoker defined as having smoked in the past month. YRBS is done in oddnumbered
years, YTS in even.

• 30.3 percent of high school boys report past-month use of tobacco (cigarettes, spit tobacco, and/or cigars). 13.4
percent of high school boys report past-month spit (smokeless) tobacco use.
Source: CDC, 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

• 90 percent of adult smokers began at or before age 18.
Source: Calculated based on data in National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2007. See, also, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS), Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report of the Surgeon General, 1994.

• More than a third of all kids who ever try smoking a cigarette become regular, daily smokers before leaving high
school.
Source: CDC, "Selected Cigarette Smoking Initiation and Quitting Behaviors Among High School Students – United States, 1997,"
MMWR 47(10):386-389, May 22, 1998, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm4719.pdf

• 81.3 percent of youth (12-17) smokers prefer Marlboro, Camel and Newport –three heavily advertised brands.
Source: SAMHSA, Results from the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH): Detailed Tables.
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k5nsduh/tabs/Sect7peTabs58to67.pdf

• 20.6 percent of adults (23.1% of men and 18.3% of women) are current smokers.
Source: CDC, “Cigarette Smoking Among Adults – United States, 2008,” MMWR, 58(44), November 13, 2009.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5844.pdf.
 

 

Northeast: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. North Central: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin,
Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas. South: Delaware, Maryland, DC, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky,
Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas. West: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, California.
Data Sources: The charts on this page and several facts on the previous page are based on the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future Study – an annual survey of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders
on tobacco and other drug use. Several facts on the previous page also come from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which has been conducted every
other year since 1991. Although the two sources present slightly different prevalence results in some cases, the overall trends are the same and both data sources are endorsed and used by the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, December 14, 2009 / /Meg Riordan

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