The National Institutes of Health reported in June 2012 that the most common time frame for initial experimentation with smoking is 6th through 9th grade, although 6 percent of 8th-graders reported having their first cigarette prior to 6th grade. A July 2013 study in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that the influence of peers on cigarette smoking was greatest during the middle school years. Peer influence was found to weaken during the transition from junior high to high school, offering a window of opportunity for interventions aimed at counteracting peer influence.