- More than 4,000 teenagers begin smoking each day (CDC).
- Someone who starts smoking aged 15 is three times more likely to die of cancer due to smoking than someone who starts in their late twenties," UK Health Minister Caroline Flint said.
- Most young smokers between the ages of 16 and 24 years trying to quit smoking do not use recommended smoking cessation methods, according to a report in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publication.
- Hey teens! Did you know that just one cigarette can cause addiction? 96,000 teens aged 14-15 were questioned by New Zealand medical researchers from 2002 to 2004 and those were the results (journal Addictive Behaviors).
- Just under 22 percent of high school students smoked in 2007 vs 23 percent in 2005, and 21.9 percent in 2003, the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey revealed.
- About 20 percent of nonsmokers ages 12 to 17 are susceptible to start smoking researchers concluded after analyzing data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
- Students exposed to smoking at home were most likely to take up the habit themselves, according to surveys of nearly 750,000 teens in 137 countries and territories (CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report).
* In Europe, 71 percent of nonsmoking students surveyed said they were exposed to cigarette smoke at home.
* Exposure was much lower in other parts of the world. For example, in Africa, just 23 percent of nonsmoking students got exposure.
- In 2006, 1.2 million American teens smoked cigarettes, 631,000 drank, 586,000 used marijuana, almost 50,000 used inhalants, 27,000 used hallucinogens, 13,000 used cocaine, and 3,800 used heroin on an average day, according to a by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
- Graphic health warning labels on cigarette packs may help deter teens from smoking, according to a Cancer Council study (Australia).
- Teen smoking may be discouraged in towns with restaurant smoking bans. Teens were 40 percent less likely to become regular smokers in smoke-free restaurants according to a study of Massachusetts teens published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
- Teens who themself or family members were affected by Hurricanes Katrina or Rita were more likely to smoke cigarettes study finds (Information from: BeaumontEnterprise.com).
- Most smokers start before age 18, according to the Department of Health and Human Services and other sources.
- Problems with sllep may increase the risk for teens who begin smoking and drinking, according to a study featured at 21st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.
- Retailers have curtailed tobacco sales to underage youth (below 18 years old) to 10.9 percent, the lowest in a decade, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which conducts random inspections nationwide with decoy buyers making tobacco purchases at retailer establishments.
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Older Youth Smoking
Starting October 2007, England will raise the minimum age for buying tobacco from 16 to 18 years old.
In Scotland, the legal age for buying cigarettes goes from 16 to 18 on February or March 2007, according to Andy Kerr, Scottish health minister.
South Africa now prohibits anyone under the age of 18 years old from entering a designated smoking area.
Slovenia raised the minimum legal age for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products from 15 to 18.
High school students in the United States tobacco use dropped 18% between 2000 and 2002, according to a survey reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Teen arrested for smoking outside a Wyoming Area High School football game.
Poor Judgment. Did you know that pregnant teenagers may smoke to try to reduce the size of their babies and make delivery less painful? This according to UK Public health minister Caroline Flint at a Labour Party conference fringe meeting.
What you don't know. . . 16 percent of Pakistani girls have smoked by the age of 15 and more than 6 percent smoke once a month or more. Unfortunately the girls were unaware of the dangers of smoking, according to an Aga Khan University study published in the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.
9.5 percent of students aged between 13-15 smoke cigarettes worldwide. European countries had the highest rate at 19.1 percent, according to a 2006 study.
The NYC teen smoking rate has fallen 20 percent from 2005 and 2007. The teen smoking rate was 17.6 percent in 2001, but fell to 8.5 percent in 2007. Armed with new survey results, NYC Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz released a supporting statement. They believe the reduced teen smoking will prevent "at least 8,000 premature deaths." In Switzerland, 30 percent of 15 year olds smoked in 2007 vs 34 percent in 2003.
North Carolina teens reject smoking. The 2007 North Carolina Youth Tobacco Survey found that smoking rates among middle school and high school students fell to all-time lows.
More Alabama teens living smoke-free. There was a 17.5 percent decrease in smoking by teens in 2008 vs. 2006, according to a Alabama Department of Public Health survey.
Mississippi student smoking fell nearly 70 percent according to the Mississippi State Department of Health's 10-year study entitled Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
Indiana high school students using snuff and chewing tobacco may be growing - - cigarette smoking is holding steady or falling, according to survey by the Indiana Prevention Resource Center at Indiana University's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.
16.6 percent of Uganda's 13 and 15 surveyed used some form of tobacco, according to The Global Youth Tobacco Survey.
* 7 percent the boys smoke
* 15 percent of the girls smoke
See more kid smoking facts.
See how smoking and drinking affect older youth smokers.
Hey, parents that smoke, learn how your children are hurt by it. Teens, ask your parents to read this. Teen cigarette smoking sucks. If you are a teenage smoker, why not stop smoking now?