PARIS: "Smoking Kills" and "Smoking Causes Cancer" are the kind of health warnings that are familiar to millions of smokers. How about this one: "Smoking Boosts the Risk of Suicide"?

The idea is sketched by German researchers, who say an in-depth study among young people in Bavaria found a clear and alarming link between smoking and the desire to kill oneself. The study, done by researchers from Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, is based on data from a detailed psychology study launched in 1995 among 3,021 people aged 14-24 who lived in Munich.

They were interviewed again four years later, when 2,548 of the volunteers responded. Around a quarter of these individuals had never smoked.

Of the rest, 40% were defined as occasional smokers, 17% as "non-dependent" regular smokers and 19%as addicted smokers. Among non-smokers, nearly 15%, reported having had suicidal thoughts, defined as making plans to kill himself or herself or spending two weeks or longer with the wish to die.

The rate was around 20% among occasional and non-dependent smokers, but among dependent smokers, suicidal ideation was 30%.