Tobacco - Statistics

by: Jerry Price - Mar 13, 2006 - comment

  • An estimated 70.8 million Americans reported current (past month) use of a tobacco product in 2003. This is 29.8 percent of the population aged 12 or older, similar to the rate in 2002 (30.4 percent). There were 60.4 million (25.4 percent) who smoked cigarettes in the past month, 12.8 million (5.4 percent) who smoked cigars, 7.7 million (3.3 percent) who used smokeless tobacco, and 1.6 million (0.7 percent) who smoked tobacco in pipes. These 2003 rates all remained unchanged from 2002.
  • Young adults aged 18 to 25 reported the highest rate of past month cigarette use (40.2 percent). This was similar to the rate among young adults in 2002 (40.8 percent).
  • Among those aged 12 or older, a higher proportion of males than females smoked cigarettes in 2003 (28.1 vs. 23.0 percent). Among youths aged 12 to 17, however, girls (12.5 percent) were as likely as boys (11.9 percent) to smoke. There was no change in cigarette use among boys aged 12 to 17 between 2002 and 2003. However, among girls, cigarette use decreased from 13.6 percent in 2002 to 12.5 percent in 2003.
  • An estimated 35.7 million Americans aged 12 or older in 2003 were classified as nicotine dependent in the past month because of their cigarette use (15.0 percent of the total population). These estimates are similar to the estimates for 2002.

Highlights of Findings: Tobacco Use 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, (Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) [Accessed November 1, 2005]

Further Learning

Learn more about: Family, Addictions, Substance Abuse

Post a Comment




Notify me of follow-up comments?

Comments are moderated to preserve the family-oriented nature of this website and in an attempt to avoid comment spam. We welcome opposing viewpoints, and we will not turn comments away as long as your views are presented with respect to everyone.

Your comments will not appear immediately and are subject to editing or deletion. We will make every attempt to check new comments in a timely manner, though there will likely be delays on the weekends and around holidays.

Please follow the these guidelines to insure your comments will be posted:

  1. Use a real name, at least a real first name. We find folks are less-rude online when not hiding behind a screen-name.
  2. Name-calling and vulgar-language will not be tolerated. Zero-tolerance is our policy. We will not spend time editing profanity. If it contains foul language, your post will be deleted. Oh, and we decide what is and what is not vulgar.
  3. Comments must be on topic. General comments (compliments, complaints, and otherwise) are best delivered here or expressed on your own personal Web site.

Other than that, we welcome you and hope to see thoughtful discussions here at FaithandFamily.com