Cigarettes grip teens in weeks

WASHINGTON - Teens who try cigarettes become hooked within weeks - a result that contradicts the common wisdom that it takes years to become addicted, say researchers.

And it takes only a few cigarettes a day to get them dependent on nicotine, the international team of researchers found.

"I thought that kids who got hooked quickly would be the exception to the rule," said Dr Joseph DiFranza, of the University of Massachusetts, whose study is published in the journal Tobacco Control.

"As it turned out, the kids who did not get hooked quickly were the exception. This study has overturned a lot of conventional wisdom."

Teenage girls took an average three weeks to become addicted to tobacco, even if they smoked only occasionally, the study found. Half of all boys who got hooked were firmly addicted within six months.

The study, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, involved 679 youngsters aged 12 and 13, who were interviewed over 30 months.

- REUTERS

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