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According to the 1999 National Household Survey on Drug abuse, an
estimated 57.0 million Americans were current smokers and 7.6 million
used smokeless Tobacco, which means that Nicotine is one of the most
widely abused substances. In addition, in 1998 each day in the United
States more than 2,000 people under the age of 18 began daily smoking.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the
prevalence of cigarette smoking among U.S. high school students
increased from 27.5 percent in 1991 to 36.4 percent in 1997 before
declining to 34.8 percent in 1999. NIDA's own Monitoring the Future
Study, which annually surveys Drug use and related attitudes of
America's adolescents, also found the prevalence rates for smoking
among youth declined from 1999 to 2000. Since 1975, nicotine in the
form of cigarettes has consistently been the substance the greatest
number of high school students use daily.
Percentage of high school students who
currently use cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, or cigars, by gender,
race/ethnicity, and grade
| Category |
Cigarettes |
Smokeless |
Cigars |
| Gender |
Male
|
34.7%
|
14.2%
|
25.4%
|
|
Female
|
34.9% |
1.3% |
9.9% |
| Race/Ethnicity |
|
White, non-Hispanic
|
38.6%
|
10.4%
|
18.8%
|
Male
|
38.2%
|
18.8%
|
28.3%
|
Female
|
39.1%
|
1.5%
|
8.6%
|
|
Black, non-Hispanic
|
19.7%
|
1.3%
|
13.7%
|
Male
|
21.8%
|
2.5%
|
16.0%
|
Female
|
17.7%
|
0.2%
|
11.6%
|
|
Hispanic
|
32.7%
|
3.9%
|
16.7%
|
Male
|
34.0%
|
6.1%
|
21.9%
|
Female
|
31.5% |
1.8% |
11.6% |
| Grade |
9
10
11
12
|
27.6%
34.7%
36.0%
42.8% |
6.8%
7.1%
8.4%
8.9% |
13.7%
17.8%
18.2%
22.0% |
| Total % Surveyed |
34.8% |
7.8% |
17.7% |
| Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC Surveillance Summaries, June 9, 2000. MMWR 49, SS-5, 2000. |
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.
Economically, an estimated $80 billion of total U.S. health care costs
each year is attributable to smoking. However, this cost is well below
the total cost to society because it does not include burn care from
smoking-related fires, perinatal care for low-birth-weight infants of
mothers who smoke, and medical care costs associated with disease
caused by secondhand smoke. Taken together, the direct and indirect
costs of smoking are estimated at $138 billion per year.
| Definitions of Terms Used |
| AIDS | Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. A condition characterized by a defect in the body's natural immunity to diseases. Individuals who suffer from it are at risk for severe illnesses that are usually not a threat to anyone whose immune system is working properly.
| | Addiction | Strong physiological, emotional and/or psychological dependence on a substance such as alcohol or drugs that has progressed beyond voluntary control. For more on addiction see the section Addiction Information in this website.
| | Alcohol | Refers to ethyl alcohol or ethanol.
| | Cocaine | A highly addictive stimulant drug derived from the cocoa plant that produces feelings of euphoria. Also see Crack.
| | Drug | Any substance, other than food, that changes the function or structure of the body or mind when ingested. Drugs essentially are poisons. The degree they are taken determines the effect. A small amount acts as a stimulant. A greater amount acts as a sedative. A larger amount acts as a poison and can kill one dead. This is true of any drug. Each has a different amount at which it gives those results.
| | Drug abuse | The use of illegal drugs or the inappropriate use of legal drugs. The repeated use of drugs to produce pleasure, to alleviate stress, or to alter or avoid reality - or all three.
| | Heroin | The potent, widely abused opiate that produces a profound addiction. It consists of two morphine molecules linked together chemically.
| | Nicotine | The drug in tobacco that is addictive. Nicotine also activates a specific kind of acetylcholine receptor.
| | Tobacco | A plant widely cultivated for its leaves, which are used primarily for smoking; the tabacum species is the major source of tobacco products.
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| | ©2005 remository.com |
Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse
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