ABSTRACT
Each day 3,000 adolescents start smoking in the United States. According to recent projections, an estimated 5 million people aged 17 years or under in 1995 will die prematurely from a smoking-related illness (Centers for Disease Control, 1996). Despite the concerted efforts of educators and health professionals, cigarette smoking continues to be one of the most serious health problems facing this nation. Although cigarette smoking has been on the decline among adults, adolescent smoking has been steadily on the rise since 1992. Recent national survey data indicate that more than one third of high-school seniors smoked in the past 30 days (Johnston, O’Malley, & Bachman, in press; Kann et al., 1996). Perhaps of greatest concern is the fact that steady increases in cigarette smoking over the past few years were evident for 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in the Monitoring the Future survey (Johnston et al., in press). Initiation and development of cigarette smoking begins in the early teens, increases in the middle teens, and levels off by the late teens (Botvin & Botvin, 1992). Regular use of cigarettes usually begins in mid-adolescence and continues to progress. By late adolescence, some youth are smoking at levels comparable to adult smokers. Furthermore, adolescent smoking trends have important implications because 77% of adult smokers became daily smokers before age 20 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1994).
