Children and Tobacco: The Facts

Facts on Nicotine and Nicotine Addiction in Children

"What is most significant about teens and smoking, however, is that, from all indications, smoking is an addiction that is typically initiated during the teenage years or not at all. For the great majority of smokers, this addiction begins before they are old enough to purchase tobacco lawfully . . . If youth access can be controlled effectively, and the decision whether to smoke can be delayed until adulthood, then, over time, smoking will be greatly reduced as a major addiction in our society."
-- "No Sale: Youth, Tobacco and Responsible Retailing," Working Group of State Attorneys General, December 1994.

• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the World Health Organization, the Institute of Medicine, the American Medical Association, and the American Psychiatric Association all agree that tobacco products are addictive. Numerous studies have found tobacco products to be as addictive as heroin, cocaine, and alcohol.¹

• A study done by HHS found that when asked, 5 percent of high school smokers thought they wouldn't be smoking 5 years later; yet, 7 to 9 years later, almost 75 percent of them were still smoking. ("Trends in Tobacco Use Among Youth," CDC, March 1994)

• Each year, nearly 20 million people try to quit smoking, but only 3 percent have long-term success. 70 percent of current smokers report themselves as being "addicted." 84 percent of normal to heavy smokers aged 12 to 17 reported that they "needed" or were "dependent" on cigarettes.²

• A 1992 survey found that close to two-thirds of adolescents who smoke want to quit, and 70 percent reported that they would not start smoking again if given another chance. ("Teenage Attitudes and Bahavior Concerning Tobacco," Gallup International Institute, 1992.)

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report of the Surgeon General, 1994; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The Health Consequences of Smoking: Nicotine Addiction: A Report of the Surgeon General, 1988; Institute of Medicine, Growing Up Tobacco Free, 1994; Journal of the American Medical Association, July 19, 1995.

2. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report of the Surgeon General, 1994.