Percent 
Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph No. 7 
Figure 4 
Prevalence (by percent) of current smokers' use of cigarette brands® with ^15 mg tar, 
by race and education: Ages 18 and older, United States, 1987 
Race/Ethnicity Education (years completed) | 
" Self-reported usual brand. I 
Source: National Center for Health Statistics, 1987. 
ultralight?" Of note, "light" and "ultralight" are terms used in advertising 
and may not correlate precisely with tar and nicotine levels (Davis et al., 
1990). However, these are terms that smokers frequently use in describing i 
the brands they smoke. | 
I'here are two key findings from the TAPS data. First, among 10- to 
18-year-olds and 19- to 22-year-olds, females were more likely than males ^ 
to smoke light and ultralight cigarettes (Figure 5). Very few males smoked ' 
ultralight cigarettes. Second, the proportion of males and females using these 
brands increased with age. This pattern among young persons (increasing ^ 
use of light and ultralight brands with increasing age) is reflected in both jj 
the 1 987 NHIS and the 1993 FAPS. 
), 
The 1993 TAPS race and ethnicity findings are similar to those detected I, 
by the NHIS: White youth were most likely to smoke light cigarettes j 
(52.6 percent), followed by Hispanic youth (44.5 percent), with much j 
smaller pro[)ortions of black youth (15 percent) reporting use of these brands ! 
(Figure 6). Anecdotal evidence also indicates that African-American youth j 
begin with higher tar cigarettes (Galkq) International Institute, 1992). 
I 
44 
