Tobacco industry price-subsidizing promotions may overcome the downward pressure of higher prices on initiation of regular smoking.

Real cigarette prices in the US increased from the early 1980s to early 1990s. Holding all else equal, adolescent initiation of regular smoking should have declined during this period. Using national population-based surveys (n = 336 343) conducted in the 1990s, we present trends (early 1960s to mid-1990s) in the initiation of regular smoking among 14-17-year-old adolescents and 18-21-year-old young adults.

How have smoking risk factors changed with recent declines in California adolescent smoking?

Aim: To compare predictors of smoking initiation in two longitudinal studies in California conducted during periods when adolescent smoking prevalence was increasing (1993-96) and decreasing (1996-99).

Design, Setting And Participants: Cohorts of 12-15-year-old never smokers were identified from the cross-sectional 1993 and 1996 California Tobacco Surveys (large population-based telephone surveys) and followed-up 3 years later (1993-96, n = 1764; 1996-99, n = 2119).

Measures: We compared cohort transition rates to any smoking by follow-up in risk groups defined by known predictors of smoking initiation at baseline.

Has there been a delay in the age of regular smoking onset among African Americans?

Background: It is not clear whether the decline in African American adolescent smoking in the 1980s reflected a delay in age of onset of regular smoking initiation rather than success in preventing initiation completely.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify whether the marked reductions in African American adolescent smoking in the 1980s were offset by increased initiation in young adults.

Methods: We combined data from the Tobacco Use Supplements of the 1992-1993, 1995-1996, and 1998-1999 Current Population Surveys (n = 512,258), and reconstructed year of smoking initiation and calculated age-specific incidence of initiation from 1970 to 1992.

Does adolescent perception of difficulty in getting cigarettes deter experimentation?

Background: Considerable controversy surrounds tobacco control emphasis on youth-access-to-tobacco laws, as there is limited evidence that such enforcement reduces youth smoking. In California, access-law enforcement increased substantially in 1996 compared to earlier in the decade.

Methods: Two longitudinal cohorts of adolescent never smokers from the large, population-based California Tobacco Surveys of 1993 and 1996 were followed-up 3 years later (1993-1996 [n = 1764] and 1996-1999 [n = 2119]).

Do the majority of Asian-American and African-American smokers start as adults?

Background: Identifying ethnic differences in the age of smoking onset from nationally representative data can lead to improved targeted prevention programs and policies to combat smoking in ethnic communities.

Methods: Analyzing data from the Tobacco Use Supplements of the U.S.