Tobacco use

Tobacco use is the deadliest addiction in the United States and remains a problem for adolescents. Despite aggressive tobacco control efforts, adolescents continue to initiate smoking and lack the supportive resources to quit. This article addresses trends in adolescent tobacco use in the United States, stages of progression in cigarette smoking, and nicotine dependence in youth. It describes how tobacco use is learned from an adolescent's social environment and influenced by psychological and genetic factors. It presents the interventions used to reduce tobacco use and highlights the elements of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy, which produce changes in adolescent tobacco use prevalence.