Tobacco.org

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An estimated 66.8 million Americans reported current use of a tobacco product in 1999, a prevalence rate of 30.2 percent for the population 12 and older. Of this total, 57.0 million (25.8 percent) smoked cigarettes, 12.1 million (5.5 percent) smoked cigars, 7.6 million (3.4 percent) used smokeless tobacco, and 2.4 million (1.1 percent) smoked tobacco in pipes.

Current cigarette smoking rates increase steadily by year of age, from 2.2 percent at age 12 to 43.5 percent at age 20. Overall, 14.9 percent of youths age 12 to 17 years in 1999 smoked cigarettes currently. Among young adults age 18 to 25 years, the rate was 39.7 percent, and among adults age 26 and older the rate was 24.9 percent.

Three brands account for most of adolescent cigarette smoking. 54.5 percent of current smokers 12 to 17 years of age report Marlboro as their usual brand. Newport was reported by 21.6 percent of youth smokers, and Camel was reported by 9.8 percent. No other cigarette brand was reported by even 2 percent of youths. . .

Youths age 12-17 who currently smoked cigarettes were seven times more likely to use illicit drugs than youths who didn't smoke. . .

An estimated 1.6 million people began smoking cigarettes daily in 1998. About half of these new smokers were younger than age 18. This translates to more than 4,000 new regular smokers per day, of which more than 2,000 are youths. . .

An estimated 4.9 million people tried cigars for the first time in 1998, about 13,000 per day. This represents a threefold increase in cigar initiation since 1991

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Three brands account for most of adolescent cigarette smoking. 54.5 percent of current smokers 12 to 17 years of age report Marlboro as their usual brand. Newport was reported by 21.6 percent of youth smokers, and Camel was reported by 9.8 percent. No other cigarette brand was reported by even 2 percent of youths.
1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) <I>Highlights</I>