Clarification on teen smoking: Not as bad as we were told

On Monday, we reported that, while heavy smoking among teenagers has dropped from 18 percent to below 8 percent between 1991 and 2009, those who smoke occasionally now comprise close to 80 percent of the teenage population a significant increase. We ourselves were stunned by not to mention a bit skeptical of the latter figure, and it turns out that the report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requires a bit of clarification. Fortunately, ACSH advisor and executive director of SmokeFree Pennsylvania William Godshall got in touch with us. Godshall is co-author of our 2006 publication on tobacco harm reduction and very well versed in the data; he offered the following commentary:

First of all, says Godshall, the rates of teenage smoking are actually lower in all categories from heavy to casual smokers. It turns out that the CDC authors failed to report that the Current Smoking rate had declined from 27.5 percent in 1991 to 19.5 percent in 2009, and the authors failed to compare the actual prevalences of Current, Heavy, Moderate, Light, and Current Frequent Smokers in 1991 and 2009.

In summary, despite how it was reported by the media (and, subsequently, by us): not even close to 80 percent of teenagers are casual smokers. Instead of reporting the facts and the good news about the huge decline in youth smoking, Godshall observes, the CDC is intentionally misrepresenting its own data so it can continue claiming gloom and doom about youth smoking most likely as a means to lobby for additional tobacco control funding.

In order to give you the both the facts and the good news, we present the data, compiled (but reported misleadingly) by the CDC, on smoking prevalence in 1991 and 2009:

We re glad to hear that smoking rates among teenagers are not nearly as dire as we reported, and we thank Bill Godshall for his expertise and quick response.