How Widespread is Tobacco Use?
Monitoring the Future Survey Current smoking rates among high school students reached an all-time low in 2007. According to the Monitoring the Future survey, 7.1 percent of 8th-graders, 14 percent of 10th-graders, and 21.6 percent of 12th-graders reported that they had used cigarettes in the previous month.6 Although unacceptably high numbers of youth continue to smoke, these numbers represent a significant decrease from peaks reached in the late 1990s. The decrease in smoking rates among young Americans corresponds to several years in which increased proportions of teens said they believe there is a “great” health risk associated with cigarette smoking and expressed disapproval of smoking one or more packs of cigarettes per day. Students’ personal disapproval of smoking has risen for some years: In the past 10 years, for example, the percentage of 12th-graders disapproving of smoking one or more packs of cigarettes per day increased significantly, from 67.1 percent in 1997 to 80.7 per
