The average age people start smoking is 13 or 14.
Everyday, 3,000 U.S. teens start smoking; approximately 1000 will die of a smoking-related disease (FDA Statement, 1995).
For any cross section of adults who smoke daily, 90 percent began using cigarettes before age 20.
The earlier individuals start to smoke, the harder it will be to quit later, and the more likely they will die prematurely. (CDC, 1999)
A new trend that has negative health implications is the recent increase in cigar use, with sales up more than 40 percent since 1993 (Shopland, unpublished data, 1997). Increased cigar smoking appears to be related to increased marketing of cigar smoking as glamorous, chic, and sexy, and increase marketing of cigar smoking to women. Cigar smoking among women has increased in recent years by at least 20 times (Los Angeles Times, 1996).
Teen use of cigars also appears to be rising. More than a quarter of American teenagers reported having smoked a cigar in the last year (Centers for Disease Control, 1997).
Although many users feel cigar smoking is not dangerous, it carries significant health risks. Cigars carry more tar and nicotine than cigarettes do -- as much as 40 times more, for a big cigar (Centers for Disease Control, 1997). Cigar smokers have a three-times higher rate of lung cancer (Journal of National Cancer Institute, 1985) and a four to 10-times higher rate of cancers of the larynx, mouth, and esophagus than nonsmokers (European Journal on Cancer, 1993). Because they were left out of the law requiring them, cigar packages carry no health warnings.
The secondhand smoke from cigars is more dangerous than the smoke from cigarettes, carrying five times the tar pollution and 25 times the carbon monoxide of a cigarette. There are more dangerous chemicals in the smoke, and the smoke lingers longer. It takes three hours for the air in a room to return to normal after one cigar is smoked (Repace, unpublished data, 1997).