According to Mohammadreza Sohrabi, Deputy of Health at Beheshti University, the age of smoking initiation in Iran has dropped to 9 years. He emphasized that the younger a person starts smoking, the harder it becomes to quit.
The state-run Mehr News Agency quoted Sohrabi as saying, “The worrying statistic is the rising prevalence of smoking among women. In 2016, the smoking rate among women was 2.4%, and by 2021, it had increased to 4.2%.”
Sohrabi stressed that 20 years have passed since the enactment of the anti-smoking law, and there is a need for legal reforms in this area.
Mohammadreza Masjedi, Director of the Iranian Anti-Tobacco Association, criticized the government’s inaction in fighting tobacco use, stating, “The National Tobacco Control Headquarters has not held a meeting for the past eight years.”
The President of the Iranian Association of Internal Medicine Specialists stated on December 5, 2024, cigarette consumption in the country has reached 10-year-old children, posing a significant risk of leading them toward drug use in the coming years.
Dr. Iraj Khosronia, in an interview with the state-run Shafaqna website, warned about the increasing use of tobacco—especially cigarettes and hookahs—among teenagers and women. He stated, “Research shows that in the years before and shortly after the revolution, people generally started smoking at older ages. However, over the past two decades, this trend has shifted, and the number of child smokers has risen sharply.”
Hamidreza Shahsavon, Secretary of the Iranian Anti-Smoking Association, stated in May 2024 that cigarette production in the country has tripled compared to previous years, and smoking has now spread to elementary schools. He also reported a 133% increase in smoking among women.
Meanwhile, cigarette consumption has significantly declined in most countries worldwide. In the United States, the smoking population has reached its lowest historical level, now accounting for only 12% of the total population. This figure was as high as 67% in the 1960s.
