There is also evidence that smoking rates among 10th graders may be leveling. Only among 12th graders is there clear evidence of a further increase in smoking, continuing an upward march that began 5 years ago. However, cigarettes remain readily available to our youth, with 76 percent of 8th graders and 90 percent of 10th graders reporting easy access. The impact of nicotine addiction in terms of morbidity, mortality, and economic costs to society is staggering. Tobacco kills more than 430,000 U.S. citizens each year-more than alcohol, cocaine, heroin, homicide, suicide, car accidents, fire, and AIDS combined.
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.
Inhalant Use Inhalants are breathable chemical vapors that produce a high when inhaled. The rate of current inhalant use has remained constant since 1994. With so many substances lumped together as inhalants, research data describing frequency and trends of inhalant abuse are uneven and sometimes contradictory. However, evidence indicates that inhalant abuse is more common among all socioeconomic levels of American youth than is typically recognized by parents and the public. For instance, the 1997 Monitoring the Future Study showed that more than one in five eighth graders had used inhalants at least once in his or her lifetime.