CDC: 23% of HS students currently use a tobacco product
ATLANTA — Almost 23% of high school students currently use a tobacco product, according to new data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Thursday’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Of particular concern, more than 90% of those using a tobacco product are using combustible tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigars, hookahs and pipes.
Extensive use of combustible products is of special concern because tobacco smoking causes most of the tobacco-related disease and death in the United States. The 50th Anniversary Surgeon General’s Report released last January concluded that unless youth smoking rates drop rapidly, 5.6 million youth currently aged 0 to 17 years will die early from a cigarette smoking-related illness.
“Nine out of ten smokers tried their first cigarette by age 18,” stated Tim McAfee, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. “We must do more to prevent our youth from using tobacco products, or we will see millions of them suffer and die prematurely as adults. Fully implementing proven tobacco control programs would help keep our youth from falling victim to tobacco.”
The CDC’s National Youth Tobacco Survey found that in 2013, 22.9% of high school students and 6.5% of middle school students reported using a tobacco product within the last 30 days. Nearly half (46%) of all high school students and 17.7% of middle school students said they had used a tobacco product at least once in their lifetime. The survey also found that 12.6% of high school students say they currently use two or more tobacco products.
Youth who say they use more than one tobacco product are at higher risk for developing nicotine dependence that can lead to continued smoking into adulthood. Most youth who use tobacco believe they will be able to quit, but about three out of four high school smokers continue smoking into adulthood.
Among all high school students, 4.5% reported using e-cigarettes within the last 30 days; and 1.1% of middle school students reported using e-cigarettes in the last 30 days. While the impact of electronic cigarette use on public health remains uncertain, the 2014 Surgeon General’s report found that nicotine use can have adverse effects on adolescent brain development. Therefore, nicotine use by youth in any form — combusted, smokeless, or electronic — is unsafe, CDC stated.
Cigarettes were the most prevalent tobacco product used by white and Hispanic high school students (14% and 13.4%), although cigars were close behind (11.4% and 12.1%). Cigar use was more prevalent than cigarette use for other races/ethnicities. Cigar use among black high school students was nearly 50% higher than cigarette use (14.7% vs. 9%), and more than twice as high (4.5% vs 1.7%) among black middle school students.
Cigars are currently unregulated by the FDA and are taxed at a lower rate. Some cigars are manufactured with fruit and candy flavors prohibited in cigarettes, and sold in small quantities.
“One effective strategy for reducing tobacco use among youth is raising the price,” said Brian King, a senior scientific advisor with the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. “The Food and Drug Administration’s new youth-focused media campaign, 'The Real Cost,' is also expected to lead to reductions in youth tobacco use.”
The CDC article was released to coincide with the 39th anniversary of the Great American Smokeout, which will be held on Nov. 20. Surveys show about 70% of all smokers want to quit, and research shows quitting completely at any age has health benefits.