More than half of all smokers begin smoking before the age of 14, and 90 percent begin by the age of 19. The average age of first use is 13-14 years of age. A Report of the Surgeon General . Youth underestimate the addictive nature of tobacco. A Report of the Surgeon General .
Regulations restricting smoking in public places reduce youth smoking rates.
One researcher found that the presence of smoking restrictions had a larger effect on teen smoking than an increase in the tobacco excise tax. Teens are twice as likely to be influenced to smoke by advertising and promotion of cigarettes than they are by pressure from peers and family members, demographic characteristics, or school performance. In fact, possession of, or willingness to use, a tobacco promotional item is one of the best longitudinal predictors of smoking. Internal industry documents, released in 1998 under court order in Minnesota, reveal that the tobacco industry has long targeted 13 and 14 year-old youths.