Youth

What Youth Should Know About Tobacco Use

Taken from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/christy/WYSKAT.htm

Did you know?

• More than 5 million children alive today will die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses?
• Nearly every adult who smokes (almost 90 percent) took his or her first puff at or before the age of 18?
• Increasing tobacco taxes is an effective way to prevent and reduce smoking, especially among kids?

Taken from http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/

WHERE DO YOUTH SMOKERS GET THEIR CIGARETTES?
More than half of all youth smokers usually buy the cigarettes they smoke, either directly from retailers or vending machines, from other kids, or by giving money to others to buy for them. Roughly one third typically get their cigarettes from others (usually other kids) for free, and a small but significant percentage of kids obtain their cigarettes by shoplifting or other stealing. At the same time, where and how youth smokers get their cigarettes can vary considerably from state to state or city to city depending on such factors as whether the jurisdiction strictly enforces the laws prohibiting tobacco sales to minors, requires retailers to keep cigarettes behind the counter, or has banned cigarette vending machines or restricted them to adult-only locations.

Nationwide, older underage smokers are more likely to directly buy their cigarettes than younger smokers, who are more likely to get their cigarettes from others or by stealing. Some of this difference is explained by the fact that older kids typically find it easier to buy cigarettes than younger kids. But another powerful factor is that older youth smokers are more likely to be daily or regular users, and regular or heavy smokers in all youth age groups are much more likely to purchase their own cigarettes than kids who smoke less frequently or are only "experimenting." Not surprisingly, the older or more regular youth smokers who buy their own cigarettes are also major suppliers of kids who do not purchase their own cigarettes but get them from others.  Because of these purchasing and consumption patterns, the roughly half of all youth smokers who regularly buy their own cigarettes personally consume considerably more than half of all youth-smoked cigarettes.

They also supply a substantial portion of the cigarettes smoked by those youth smokers who typically buy or borrow their cigarettes from others. As a result, at least three quarters of all cigarettes consumed by kids are purchased by kids -- which is why strictly enforcing laws forbidding retailer sales to kids and raising cigarette prices through tax increases can quickly and significantly reduce youth smoking.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, September 17, 2004 / Eric Lindblom
Taken from http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0073.pdf

According to the Youth Risk Behavior Report 2005

• 61% of high school students have tried smoking
• 22% had smoked a whole cigarette prior to age 13
• 28% had a cigarette on one or more of the past 30 days
• Among those who smoked cigarettes on one or more of the past 30 days, 58% tried to quit smoking during the past 12 months
• 25% had used chewing tobacco or snuff during their lives
• 13% had used chewing tobacco or snuff during the past 30 days
• Of those respondents under the age of 18 years old, who smoked cigarettes on one or more of the past 30 days, 10% had bought their cigarettes in a store

To obtain a copy of the survey results follow this link:
http://doe.sd.gov/oess/schoolhealth/yrbs/docs/2005YRBSReport.pdf

DID YOU KNOW?

• Each day in the U.S. approximately 4,000 youths aged 12-17 try their first cigarette
• 54% of high school students have ever tried cigarette smoking (even one or two puffs)
• 16% of high school students have smoked a whole cigarette before age 13.
• Smoking at an early age increases the risk of lung cancer.
• The younger people begin smoking cigarettes, the more likely they are to become strongly addicted to nicotine.
• Cigarette companies spent more than $15.2 billion in 2003 to promote their products.