 Half of those who begin smoking in adolescent years are projected to go on to smoke for 15 to 20 years.. As of 2019 in the United States, roughly 800,000 high school students smoke.The World Health Organization (WHO) states that "Much of the disease burden and premature mortality attributable to tobacco use disproportionately affect the poor".Of the 1.22 billion smokers, 1 billion of them live in developing or transitional economies.