Teen-smoking survey findings mixed
12/21/99
The proportion of teen-agers who smoke a little bit declined modestly this year, but the rate of older teen-agers who smoke daily was up, according to a national survey on drug use.
The University of Michigan's "Monitoring the Future" survey reported on Friday:
17.5 percent of eighth-graders smoked at least once a month, down from 19.1 percent last year, while 8.1 percent smoked daily, down from 8.8 percent.
25.7 percent of 10th-graders smoked, down from 27.6 percent, while 15.9 percent smoked daily, up from 15.8 percent.
34.6 percent of 12th-graders smoked, down from 35.1 percent, while 23.1 percent smoked daily, up from 22.4 percent and 13.2 percent smoked a half a pack or more a day, up from 12.6 percent.
Smoking rates were down from peaks hit in 1996 or 1997, the survey found.
Cigarettes
