Teen Tobacco and Alcohol Use
Cigarette and alcohol use by 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders is at its lowest point since at least 1975, according to
survey results released in December by the Department of Health and Human Services. For example, 19 percent of 12th graders reported current cigarette use, compared with a recent peak rate of 36.5 percent in 1997. And 27 percent of eighth graders reported past-year use of alcohol in 2011, compared with a peak rate of 47 percent in 1994. Binge drinking among teens is also down over the last 5 years.
