A report by federal government released on Thursday said that the use of smokeless tobacco among US teen boys is on a high.

According to report, figures of smokeless tobacco usage have gone up from 3.4 percent in 2002 to 4.4 percent in 2007.

The report showed a 3.0 to 3.3 percent range increase in the rate of smokeless tobacco use among all people older than 12 during the past month.

The reports said that approximately 7.8 million US people from the age of 12 and older overall used smokeless tobacco in the past month in 2007.

The results of the report are based on facts from about 405,000 people aged between 12 and older who participated in nationwide surveys on drug use and health carried out by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The different smokeless tobacco products include tobacco or tobacco blends that are chewed up, kept in the mouth outside the gums, or breathed in or huffed through the nose.

The report named “Smokeless Tobacco Use, Initiation and Relationship to Cigarette Smoking: 2002 to 2007 also found:

- Among current smokeless tobacco users, 85.8% used cigarettes at some time in their lives, and 38.8% used cigarettes in the past month.

- Among persons who conumed both smokeless tobacco and cigars in their lifetime, 31.8% started using smokeless tobacco initially, 65.5% started using cigarettes first and 2.7% started using smokeless tobacco and cigarettes at about the same time.

- About 6.2% males were more likely than 0.4% to be current smokeless tobacco users.

- Some smokers believe switching to smokeless tobacco will assist them quit smoking, but the report found that 88.1% of daily smokers who started using smokeless tobacco were still smoking six months later.

Eric Broderick, the agency's acting administrator, said, “These findings and the medical literature indicate that using smokeless tobacco is not a safe alternative to cigarette smoking.”

“We need to make everyone aware that all forms of tobacco use can cause nicotine addiction, cancer and death,” Eric added.