Objective: California’s comprehensive tobacco control programme was 13 years old in 2002; by then,
children entering adolescence at the start of the programme were young adults. This study examines
whether adolescent smoking declined over this period, whether any decline carried through to young
adulthood, and whether it was specific to California.
Setting and participants: Most data were from the 1990–2002 California Tobacco Surveys (CTS)
(adolescents 12–17 years, . 5000/survey, young adults 18–24 years, . 1000/survey). Additional data
were from the national 1992/93–2001/02 Current Population Survey (CPS) (young adults 18–24 years,
. 15 000/survey).