Daily cigarette consumption in early adulthood: age of smoking initiation and duration of smoking.

This study considers the extent to which daily consumption of cigarettes in young adults varies by age at first cigarette and duration of smoking. Data come from a random sample of 21- to 30-year-old members of a large HMO in the Detroit area. Daily cigarette consumption by current smokers varied by duration of daily smoking: the longer the duration, the higher the number of cigarettes smoked. Duration from first cigarette to daily smoking bore no relationship to cigarette consumption. When duration of daily smoking was statistically controlled, the association between cigarette consumption and age at first cigarette was not statistically significant. The findings suggest that public health efforts to delay daily smoking among adolescents might reduce cigarette consumption in early adulthood.