Smoking prevalence is lower in women than in men, however, this gap has been closing in recent years due to decreasing numbers of men smoking and increasing numbers of women smoking in certain countries. In addition, smoking-associated deaths among women are still on the rise in some Eastern European countries. Young girls are more likely to smoke than boys, particularly in Northern and Western European countries. (WHO 2009b) Across the EU overall drug use is more common in men than in women, but the use of tranquilisers and sedative substances is more common in school-aged girls than boys in most EU-Member.