Table 3.

Attitudes toward smoking by lifetime smoking^a

Lifetime smoking history
			None (n = 5,565)	Minimal 1–5 cigarettes (n = 743)	Moderate 6–99 cigarettes (n = 752)	High 100+ cigarettes (n = 557)
Do you think people can get addicted to tobacco just like they can get addicted to using cocaine or heroin?
Percent definitely/probably yes			90	88	82	81
OR (95% CI) (p value)			1.0	0.8 (0.6–1.0) (.009)	0.4 (0.3–0.6) (<.001)	0.4 (0.3–0.5) (<.001)
				1.0	0.5 (0.4–0.7) (<.001)	0.6 (0.3–0.7) (<.001)
Young smokers have more friends
Percent definitely/probably yes			24	35	38	40
OR (95% CI) (p value)			1.0	1.6 (1.3–1.9) (<.001)	2.2 (1.8–2.7) (<.001)	2.9 (2.3–3.6) (<.001)
				1.0	1.4 (1.1–1.8) (.02)	1.8 (1.3–2.4) (<.001)
Smoking cigarettes makes young people look cool
Percent definitely/probably yes			13	24	28	24
OR (95% CI) (p value)			1.0	2.1 (1.7–2.6) (<.001)	3.1 (2.4–3.8) (<.001)	2.6 (2.0–3.4) (<.001)
				1.0	1.5 (1.1–2.0) (.006)	1.3 (0.9–1.7) (.2)
1–5 cigarettes/day harmful to young people
Percent definitely/probably yes			90	87	84	78
OR (95% CI) (p value)			1.0	0.8 (0.6–1.1) (.11)	0.5 (0.4–0.7) (.000)	0.3 (0.2–0.4) (<.001)
				1.0	0.6 (0.4–0.9) (.01)	0.4 (0.2–0.5) (<.001)
Safe to smoke for a year or 2 and then quit
Percent definitely/probably yes			11	20	26	32
OR (95% CI) (p value)			1.0	2.0 (1.6–2.6) (<.001)	3.2 (2.5–4.0) (<.001)	4.3 (3.3–5.6) (<.001)
				1.0	1.5 (1.2–2.1) (.003)	2.1 (1.5–2.9) (<.001)
Do you think you will be smoking 5 years from now?b
Percent definitely/probably yes			6	22	38	59
OR (95% CI) (p value)			1.0	4.9 (3.6–6.6) (<.001)	13.3 (10–18) (<.001)	39.4 (28–59) (<.001)
				1.0	2.7 (2.0–3.8) (<.001)	6.6 (5.6–12) (<.001)

Note. ^aOdds ratios (ORs, not percentages) are adjusted for age, race, gender, living with smoker, and school cohort.

^bAsked only of 2005 and 2006 respondents (n per group: none, 3,766; 1–5 cigarettes, 506; 6–99 cigarettes, 513; and 100+ cigarettes, 383). Readers interested in other pairwise comparisons may contact the first author.