What are the characteristics of teens who buy cigarettes versus those who get them for free?

Underage smoking remains a significant problem in the U.S. despite that age 18 is the legal smoking age. As cigarettes become more difficult to obtain commercially, they are obtained increasingly from social sources. One largely unanswered question about social sources is the type of transaction that takes place in social exchanges of cigarettes. This study describes the association between source of cigarettes (social/commercial) and underage smoking, and describes the differences in teens seeking free cigarettes compared to those seeking to buy cigarettes. The survey data are from a large community-based cohort study. The sample (n=812, age 12-17) was restricted to participants who had smoked a whole cigarette and whose response to “Where did you get your last cigarette?” was either “got it from someone” or “bought it.” Four types of independent variables were included in analyses: demographic information, smoking behavior, interpersonal environmental factors, and personal disposable income. Eighty-four percent of the sample obtained their last cigarette for free and 16% bought their last cigarette. Of the teens who obtained their last cigarette for free, 90% received it from another teen and 10% received it from an adult. Obtaining free cigarettes was more likely among lighter smokers and younger teens. Teens who reported fewer friends who smoked were more likely to have obtained their last cigarette for free, as were teens who worked fewer hours and had less spending money. This study will benefit prevention efforts, both for reducing distribution of cigarettes to peers and for identifying sources of illegal purchases.