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Young Bar Patrons More Likely to Smoke and Use Tobacco Products

Smoking prevalence among young adults who frequent bars is at least twice the rate of smoking found among young adults in the general population, according to new research presented at APHA's 142nd Annual Meeting.

The study's results indicate that between 30% to 50% of young adults attending bars or nightclubs report currently smoking cigarettes. The national rate for smoking prevalence is approximately 15% for young adults. The study also analyzed alternative tobacco product use, descriptively finding that in Los Angeles, 18% of participants had used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days and in Los Angeles and Tucson, 16% used hookah in the past 30 days. Further, in multiple cities, young bar-goers who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, were more likely to report current tobacco use.

"These findings are important because young adulthood is a critical point in time to intervene on tobacco use: those who have never smoked by the age of 25 are much less likely to ever become smokers, and those who quit before the age of 30 avoid most of the long term health effects of smoking," authors of the study explain.

The study of 6,311 participants reviewed survey data from participants in Albuquerque, Los Angeles, Nashville, San Diego, San Francisco and Tucson. The study's analysis described tobacco usage patterns of young adults aged 18 to 26 who frequent bars or nightclubs, along with their use of alternative tobacco products and demographic information.

— Source: American Public Health Association