Lifetime smoking and other tobacco use almost always begins by the time kids graduate from high
school.1
Young kids’ naïve experimentation frequently develops into regular smoking, which typically turns
into a strong addiction—well before the age of 18—that can overpower the most well-intentioned efforts to
quit. Any efforts to decrease future tobacco use levels among high school students, college-aged youths
or adults must include a focus on reducing experimentation and regular tobacco use among teenagers
and pre-teens.