More than 3,000 young people become regular smokers every day in the U.
S.
-- more than one million new smokers a year.
Here's some 'teen smoking' facts that are worrisome: ·86% of teen smokers who bought their own cigarettes preferred Marlboro, Camel, or Newport cigarettes -- the most heavily advertised brands.
·About 57% of students in grades 9 - 12 who currently smoke usually buy their cigarettes from a retail store, from a vending machine, or through another person who purchased cigarettes for them.
·Among teens aged 10 - 18, about three-fourths of daily cigarette smokers and daily smokeless tobacco users report that they continue to use tobacco because it is really hard for them to quit.
·Among young smokers, the transition from experimentation to dependence occurs just as frequently as it does among users of cocaine and heroin.
·Approximately 93% of daily teen cigarette smokers and daily smokeless tobacco users who previously tried to quit report at least one symptom of nicotine withdrawal.
·Each year, an estimated 225 million packs of cigarettes were sold illegally to young people under the age of 18 - and the number is growing.
·More than 5 million young people under the age of 18 who are currently alive will die prematurely from a smoking-related disease.
·Smokeless tobacco use among youth is a continuing problem.
Data from school-based surveys indicate that about one in every five male students in 9th through 12th grades uses smokeless tobacco.
·Smoking is also associated with numerous other high-risk behaviors (e.
g.
, fighting, having unprotected sex).
·Starting smoking at an early age greatly increases the risk of lung cancer.
A person's risk for most other smoking-related cancers also rises with the length of time that a person smokes.
·Studies have found nicotine to be addictive in ways similar to those of heroin, cocaine, and alcohol.
·Studies have shown that early signs of the blood vessel damage present in these diseases can be found in teens who smoke.
·Teen smoking rates have increased each year since 1992.
In 1996, 22.
2% of high school seniors smoked daily -- up from 17.
2% in 1992.
Between 1991 and 1996, past-month smoking increased from 14.
3% to 21.
0% among eighth graders and from 20.
8% to 30.
4% among tenth graders.
·Teenage cigarette smokers consume an average of 28.
3 million cigarettes per day (516 million packs per year) each year - and the number is growing.
·Teenage smokers suffer from shortness of breath almost three times as often as teens who don't smoke and produce phlegm more than twice as often as teens who don't smoke.
·Teens who smoke are three times as likely as nonsmokers to use alcohol, eight times as likely to use marijuana, and 22 times as likely to use cocaine.
The bottom line: Very few people start smoking after the age of 18 or 20.
Tobacco is highly addictive -- as addictive as cocaine.
Kids become addicted physically and emotionally.
They can stop smoking, but it is extremely difficult.
It is certainly easier not to start in the first place.
S.
-- more than one million new smokers a year.
Here's some 'teen smoking' facts that are worrisome: ·86% of teen smokers who bought their own cigarettes preferred Marlboro, Camel, or Newport cigarettes -- the most heavily advertised brands.
·About 57% of students in grades 9 - 12 who currently smoke usually buy their cigarettes from a retail store, from a vending machine, or through another person who purchased cigarettes for them.
·Among teens aged 10 - 18, about three-fourths of daily cigarette smokers and daily smokeless tobacco users report that they continue to use tobacco because it is really hard for them to quit.
·Among young smokers, the transition from experimentation to dependence occurs just as frequently as it does among users of cocaine and heroin.
·Approximately 93% of daily teen cigarette smokers and daily smokeless tobacco users who previously tried to quit report at least one symptom of nicotine withdrawal.
·Each year, an estimated 225 million packs of cigarettes were sold illegally to young people under the age of 18 - and the number is growing.
·More than 5 million young people under the age of 18 who are currently alive will die prematurely from a smoking-related disease.
·Smokeless tobacco use among youth is a continuing problem.
Data from school-based surveys indicate that about one in every five male students in 9th through 12th grades uses smokeless tobacco.
·Smoking is also associated with numerous other high-risk behaviors (e.
g.
, fighting, having unprotected sex).
·Starting smoking at an early age greatly increases the risk of lung cancer.
A person's risk for most other smoking-related cancers also rises with the length of time that a person smokes.
·Studies have found nicotine to be addictive in ways similar to those of heroin, cocaine, and alcohol.
·Studies have shown that early signs of the blood vessel damage present in these diseases can be found in teens who smoke.
·Teen smoking rates have increased each year since 1992.
In 1996, 22.
2% of high school seniors smoked daily -- up from 17.
2% in 1992.
Between 1991 and 1996, past-month smoking increased from 14.
3% to 21.
0% among eighth graders and from 20.
8% to 30.
4% among tenth graders.
·Teenage cigarette smokers consume an average of 28.
3 million cigarettes per day (516 million packs per year) each year - and the number is growing.
·Teenage smokers suffer from shortness of breath almost three times as often as teens who don't smoke and produce phlegm more than twice as often as teens who don't smoke.
·Teens who smoke are three times as likely as nonsmokers to use alcohol, eight times as likely to use marijuana, and 22 times as likely to use cocaine.
The bottom line: Very few people start smoking after the age of 18 or 20.
Tobacco is highly addictive -- as addictive as cocaine.
Kids become addicted physically and emotionally.
They can stop smoking, but it is extremely difficult.
It is certainly easier not to start in the first place.