According to a 1992 report, an estimated 450 children begin smoking each day in the UK. One in four 16 year olds smoke. Over 300,000 children between 11 and 15 smoke regularly and 180,000 smoke occasionally. By the age of 17, 90% of young people will have tried smoking. Of these, 20% continue.
The US Food and Drug Administration reports adolescents in the USA buy about $1.26 billion worth of cigarettes each year. 19% of 18 year-olds smoke, and teenage smoking dropped by 33% during the 1980's but has not fallen further since then. Girls who begin smoking cigarettes within the first 5 years after they began menstruating were 70% more likely to develop breast cancer than nonsmokers. A new study found that this relationship exists regardless of how long the girls continued smoking.
(2) Many young people think that smoking is about independence, glamour and rebellion when what is really happening is manipulation and addiction.