Problem/Objective: As adolescent smoking rates decline, tobacco control programs must better understand the vulnerability of the young adult population. In particular, better understanding is needed on the critical transition between experimenting with smoking and becoming a regular smoker.

Methods: Population-based survey of adult smokers and recent quitters in New York City, n=2423. Data presented are restricted to adults age 25 and older (n=2243). Measures of initiation included age when respondent first smoked a whole cigarette and age when respondent first started smoking regularly. Analyses are presented by current age and other demographic subgroups.

Results: Although two-thirds of respondents smoked their first whole cigarette before age 18 (65.5%), nearly one-third did not begin smoking regularly until between ages 18 and 20 (30%) and an additional 15% started smoking regularly between ages 21 and 24. Compared to those age 45-64 and 65 and older, adults age 25-44 were most likely to have begun smoking regularly during young adulthood (48.4%), indicating that delaying adoption of regular smoking may be a recent trend. One-third of respondents started smoking regularly at the same age as first smoking a whole cigarette, less than 15% waited one year, and more than half waited 2 or more years between smoking the first whole cigarette and beginning smoking regularly.

Conclusions: Efforts to prevent adoption of regular smoking in young adulthood warrant attention. As the tobacco industry increases marketing to young adults, tobacco control programs must counter by promoting smoke-free college campuses and limiting tobacco industry sponsorship of young-adult-oriented activities.