According to a 1997 update published by the American Lung Association, approximately 3.1 million American teenagers smoke cigarettes. More than 21 percent of high school seniors smoke on a daily basis. And 90 percent of all smokers in the U.S. began smoking before the age of 21.
Some teens pick up that first cigarette to be cool or because their friends are smoking.
Others are modeling an adult who smokes. But the habit is hard to break. Like adults, many teens continue to smoke as a way of reducing stress, and the addictive properties of nicotine kick in. At first, teenagers start smoking with their friends. Cigarettes are a drug kids use to deal with feelings they re trying to avoid, and it s very difficult to stop.