Youth and Tobacco Use

Preventing tobacco product use among youth is critical to ending the tobacco epidemic in the United States.

If cigarette smoking continues at the current rate among youth in this country, 5.6 million of today’s Americans younger than 18 will die early from a smoking-related illness. That’s about 1 of every 13 Americans aged 17 years or younger who are alive today.

In 2020, nearly 7 of every 100 middle school students (6.7%) and about 23 of every 100 high school students (23.6%) reported current use of a tobacco product. In 2019, nearly 1 of every 4 middle school students (24.3%) and over half (53.3%) of high school students said they had ever tried a tobacco product.

• Tobacco product use is started and established primarily during adolescence.
• Nearly 9 out of 10 adults who smoke cigarettes daily first try smoking by age 18, and 99% first try smoking by age 26.
• Each day in the U.S., about 1,600 youth smoke their first cigarette and nearly 200 youth start smoking every day.
• Flavorings in tobacco products can make them more appealing to youth.
• In 2020, 85% of high school students and 74% of middle school students who used tobacco products in the past 30 days reported using a flavored tobacco product during that time.

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/youth_data/tobacco_use/index.htm

Please research this subject extensively. Stats are subject to change on a daily basis. Remember, it is not the odds, but the stakes.