Smoking Initiation

In 2007, more than two-thirds of current or former adult (20+ years) smokers in Simcoe Muskoka reported smoking their first whole cigarette when they were 16 years of age or younger. Forty-one per cent (35.7%, 45.6%) reported smoking their first cigarette when they were 14 years old or younger, which was significantly higher than the Ontario rate. (Figure 1).

Figure 1:

In the same survey, current daily smokers were also asked when they first began to smoke cigarettes daily. Nearly half of Simcoe Muskoka adult (20+ years) daily smokers reported smoking daily before the age of 17. And one in three, 33% (25.0%, 42.0%), stated they began smoking daily between 15 and 16 years of age. These figures where not statistically different from Ontario as a whole (Figure 2).

Figure 2: