Smoking habits in Romania.

The main aspects and consequences of tobacco use resulting from a series of field surveys in Romania are reviewed. The proportion of smokers in middle-aged adults is about 10 per cent for women and 40 to 50 per cent for men. Cigarettes are practically the only form of tobacco consumed--cigars are very rarely smoked and pipe-smoking accounts for less than 1 per cent of tobacco use. Less than 10 per cent of smokers use more than 25 cigarettes a day. Age at starting to smoke is low, with a quarter of smokers taking up the habit by the age of 15. Ninety per cent of the smokers admit to inhaling, and about half the men and nearly all the women smoke filter cigarettes.