Trends in Smokeless Tobacco Use and Initiation: 2002 to 2014

Trends in Smokeless Tobacco Use and Initiation: 2002 to 2014

TRENDS IN SMOKELESS TOBACCO USE AND INITIATION: 2002 TO 2014

AUTHORS

Rachel N. Lipari, Ph.D., and Struther L. Van Horn, M.A.

In Brief

• In 2014, 3.3 percent of people aged 12 or older (an estimated 8.7 million people) used smokeless tobacco in the past month. Past month smokeless tobacco use remained relatively stable between 2002 and 2014.

• Past month smokeless tobacco use between 2002 and 2014 was mostly consistent among adults aged 26 or older. There was more variability in the percentages of young adults aged 18 to 25 and adolescents aged 12 to 17 who used smokeless tobacco between 2002 and 2014. Smokeless tobacco use for adolescents aged 12 to 17 was higher during the mid-2000s, but the 2014 estimates were closer to the lower levels seen in the early 2000s.

• In 2014, an estimated 1.0 million people aged 12 or older used smokeless tobacco for the first time in the past year; this represents 0.5 percent of people who had not previously used smokeless tobacco.