If you decide to try even one cigarette, probably you will become a regular smoker. A recount on Nicotine and Tobacco Research pages were researchers from Queen Mary University of London in their research showed that a little over 60% of adults have tried a cigarette at some point in their lives, and that as many as 69 % of these continued to smoke cigarettes every day, even if only for a period of time. "Our study shows the importance of prevention, providing for the first time evidence of the link between try their first cigarette and become a habitual smoker," says Peter Hajek, co-author of the research.

To understand this, the British research team was based on data from eight surveys conducted from 2000 to 2016, including three in the UK, three in the United States, and two in Australia and New Zealand, for a total of more than 216 thousand respondents. The results showed that between 50% and 82% of the participants, having tried a cigarette, had continued to smoke on a daily basis, at least for a period of time. Further analysis showed, more precisely, that 68.9% of individuals had started smoking regularly for a period after trying a cigarette.

However, the researchers point out some limitations of the study, including the fact that the results are based solely on information provided by respondents. "It is possible that a non-smoker who has tried a cigarette as a child, but maybe he forgot or did not think it important enough to have to tell," says Hajek, adding, however, that the recent decline in smoking rates among young people It suggests that some measures (such as sales restrictions) are having a positive effect. At least as far as the United Kingdom.

In Italy, however, the situation would be more complicated. As we told you, according to data from the ESPAD survey (European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs), conducted in 35 European countries and involving 96,043 students, 37% of Italian students had used cigarettes in the last month and an overall average of 58% of the boys has pioneered the use of tobacco in general, throughout his life. The Italian media is higher than that of Europe, which stood in the detection segment on 30 days, stops at 21%. If less than a quarter of respondents then declares a smoker on the current month, Italians appear to be exceptions.

From Wired