SMOKING CAN
KILL
Once You Start, It's Hard to Stop
Smoking's a hard habit to break because tobacco contains nicotine, which is
highly addictive. Like heroin or other addictive drugs, the body and mind
quickly become so used to the nicotine in cigarettes that a person needs to
have it just to feel normal.
Almost no smoker begins as an adult. Statistics show that
about nine out of 10 tobacco users start before they're 18 years old. Some
teens who smoke say they start because they think it helps them look older (it
does - if yellow teeth and wrinkles are the look you want). Others smoke
because they think it helps them relax (it doesn't - the heart actually beats
faster while a person's smoking). Some light up as a way to feel rebellious or
to set themselves apart (which works if you want your friends to hang out someplace
else while you're puffing away). Some start because their friends smoke - or
just because it gives them something to do.
Some people, especially girls, start smoking because they think it
may help keep their weight down. The illnesses that smoking can cause, like
lung diseases or cancer, do cause weight loss - but that's not a very good way
for people to fit into their clothes!
Another reason people start smoking is because their family members
do. Most adults who started smoking in their teens never expected to become
addicted. That's why people say it's just so much easier to not start smoking
at all.
The cigarette ads from when your parents were young convinced many
of them that the habit was glamorous, powerful, or exciting - even though it's
essentially a turnoff: smelly, expensive, and unhealthy.
Cigarette ads still show smokers as attractive and hip,
sophisticated and elegant, or rebellious and cool. The good news is that these
ads aren't as visible and are less effective today than they used to be: Just
as doctors are more savvy about smoking today than they were a generation ago,
teens are more aware of how manipulative advertising can be. The government has
also passed laws limiting where and how tobacco companies are allowed to
advertise to help prevent young kids from getting hooked on smoking.