The number of U.S. teens who smoke significantly dropped in recent years, particularly among those in their early teens. These declines can be seen in their lifetime, 30-day and daily smoking rates, according to the latest Monitoring the Future study.
Including a further decline this year, the rate of smoking in the prior 30 days is now down by two-thirds among eighth-graders to 7 percent from the peak level of 21 percent reached in 1996.
“That should eventually translate into many fewer illnesses and premature deaths for this generation of young people,” says Distinguished Research Scientist Lloyd Johnston, the study’s principal investigator.
MTF, now in its 33rd year, tracks smoking, drinking and illicit drug use among the nation’s secondary school students, surveying about 50,000 eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders in more than 400 secondary schools every year. An accompanying report covers illicit drug and alcohol use.
Following a decade of substantial improvement, daily smoking among young people in their early and middle teens stopped dropping last year, following a deceleration of the decline in the years immediately preceding.
Compared to peak levels in the mid-1990s, past 30-day smoking rates in 2007 are down by 54 percent among 10th-graders and 41 percent among 12th-graders. The researchers expect that smoking rates among 10th- and 12th-graders will continue to decline as the current eighth-graders, who smoke at lower rates, get older. The rates of past 30-day smoking now stand at 7 percent, 14 percent and 22 percent across the three grades.
Attitudes about smoking
Most young people today understand that there is considerable risk associated with daily smoking. In grades eight, 10 and 12, respectively, 61 percent, 68 percent, and 77 percent of the 2007 respondents say that they see great risk of harm in being a pack-a-day smoker.
This belief increased considerably in earlier years, beginning after 1995, which probably contributed to the downturn in smoking; but it has been quite stable among the younger teens for the last three years. “It should be noted that the younger teens are least aware of the dangers of smoking, which is unfortunate, since they are at the age when many initiate smoking and begin to develop a smoking habit,” Johnston says.
The large majority of teens today say they disapprove of smoking at the pack-a-day level: 87 percent, 85 percent and 81 percent of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders, respectively. Disapproval has grown considerably since 1996 and continues to increase in the lower grades.
Availability of cigarettes to teens
The proportion of teens who say that they could get cigarettes fairly easily or very easily has been declining for some years, particularly among the younger teens.
Today 56 percent of eighth-graders — most of whom are 13 or 14 years old — say they could get cigarettes fairly easily. As high as that number is, it is down considerably from 77 percent in 1996. Tenth-graders have greater availability, as might be expected, but fewer of them say they could get cigarettes fairly or very easily in 2007 (78 percent) than in 1996 (91 percent). This decline in availability continues today, with significant drops in both grades this year.
