You can overcome the habit and break free from cigarettes. Fast Facts Tobacco use among adolescents increased in the 1990s. Teen smokers have smaller lungs and a weaker heart than teen non-smokers. They also get sick more often than teens who don't smoke. Teens who smoke are three times more likely than nonsmokers to use alcohol, eight times more likely to use marijuana, and 22 times more likely to use cocaine.
Smoking is associated with other risky behaviors, such as fighting and engaging in unprotected sex.
Teenagers, women, and whites experience more dependence symptoms while using the same, or fewer, number of cigarettes than other groups, such as men, older people and nonwhites. Dependent smokers are more likely to continue smoking and to use increasingly larger amounts to sustain the nicotine effect. Adolescents, who smoke significantly fewer cigarettes a day than adults, experience substantially higher rates of dependence than do adults at the same level of usage. Cigars have four times as much nicotine as cigarettes. Many teens think cigars are safe alternatives to cigarettes since they are puffed and not inhaled, but the smoke does get into the lungs.