The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: In 2000-2001, a survey of 9th graders in western New York State revealed that 2.3% of current smokers had ever purchased cigarettes from an Internet source and that 8.8% of current smokers intended to make an Internet cigarette purchase in next year. This presentation reports results of a second cross-sectional survey of 9th graders in western New York State conducted in 2004-2005 to assess trends and correlates of youth cigarette purchasing behavior on the Internet.

Methods: In 2000-2001, Roswell Park Cancer Institute conducted a survey asking 7,019 ninth grade students in Erie and Niagara Counties in New York State about their tobacco use and purchasing habits, including use of the Internet to buy cigarettes. The 2004-2005 survey is a replication of the 2000-2001 survey. Both surveys attempted to survey all 9th grade students in public and parochial schools with an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire survey, using identical survey methods. These data were combined in order to examine trends in youth smoking behavior.

Results: Students surveyed in 2004-2005 were 2.6 times more likely (95% CI: 1.5 to 4.6) to have purchased cigarettes over the Internet in the 30 days prior to the survey than those surveyed in 2001 (5.2% to 1.6%); however, the intention to use the Internet as a cigarette source in the future did not change between survey periods.