Study: 23% in High School Use Tobacco

About 23% of U.S. high school students use some form of tobacco, new survey data show. And about 90% of those teens smoke cigarettes, cigars, pipes or hookah, the survey found. The new study was based on a 2013 national survey of middle and high school students. They were asked if they had ever used tobacco products and if they were current users (in the last 30 days). Whites were most likely to use cigarettes (14%). So were Hispanics (13.4%). Black high school students were much more likely to use cigars (14.7%) than cigarettes (9%). More than 12% of high school students said they used 2 or more tobacco products. About 4.5% used e-cigarettes, also called “vaping.” Use of all products was lower among middle school students. About 6.5% were current tobacco users. About 46% of high school students and nearly 18% of middle school students had ever tried a tobacco product.