Teen Smoking Essay Research Paper Teen SmokingTeen — страница 2

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were playing hackey sack outside and ?Yo, Can I get a cigarette just popped out.? I really wanted to try one. For 3 years my friends smoked while I just hung out. Curiosity got the best of me. My first time the cigarette just flowed. No coughing or choking. And the feeling. Ohhhhhhhh the feeling. Simply marvelous. I felt like I was reenergized. I loved the way if flowed and the way it felt. There are other causes that start teens on smoking but most of them are individual circumstances applicable to only one or two people around the nation. Some, ignorant, people ask, ?Why is teen smoking a problem?? For those people who have been living in a hole for the past 25 years, I?ll explain it. Tobacco kills more people than alcohol, cocaine, crack, heroin, homicide, suicide, car

accidents, fires and AIDS combined. Smoking is the number one cause of almost every type of cancer including but not exclusive to lung cancer and throat cancer. It also leads to other lung problems such as emphysema. In addition, smoking has been proven to affect people?s blood and blood pressure making people more prone to heart disease and heart attacks. The diseases and problems associated with smoking all take years to develop. Therefore the earlier a person starts smoking; theoretically the earlier they will become ill with smoking related diseases. A person who starts smoking in their teens can be diagnosed with cancer in their 30?s but it usually doesn?t affect them until they are 40-60. More than 434,000 people die each year from tobacco related illnesses, making it the

single most preventable cause of death in the U.S. In Florida alone, more than 28,000 deaths annually (23% of total deaths) are tobacco related. Still not convinced on why stay away from smoking? Well besides the fact that it can kill you, as mentioned above, it is just gross. It stains your teeth yellow. It makes you, your clothes, your car, and your home all smell like cigarettes. Also, it bothers non-smokers. People who don?t smoke shouldn?t have to inhale your smoke, although when I didn?t smoke the smell never bothered me. Any smoke that is emitted by a cigarette that is not inhaled goes into the air. Once these toxins are in the air, they are free to corrupt non-smoker lungs too. Second hand smoke it is called. Second hand smoke causes non-smokers to get the same smoking

related diseases and cancers as smokers. That?s just wrong. My habit and the habits of other smokers are actually harming and killing innocent people. That is a wrong done to everyone involved. Also nicotine is widely considered one of the most addictive drugs. It is all but impossible to quit. Some people do quit but not an overwhelming majority. Here is another statistic. Over 95% of daily smoking high schools seniors think they will have quit smoking within five years, but follow-up studies show that 73% of daily smoking high school seniors were still daily smokers 8 years later. I found that most of the books I checked out really didn?t help me accept for some statistics. I already knew this stuff. I am very informed on smoking and the dangers of it. Also my grandfather

passed away with lung cancer about a year and a half ago. What can be done about teen smoking? I have formulated, actually I would be lying to say I thought of these first, a few ways to deal with teen smoking. The first way would be the easiest way. Do nothing about it. The government just backs off and lets it be. ?Let them smoke if they want.? This would be the easiest way but defiantly not the best way. Smokers would begin to run rampant. All these statistics would sky rocket. Prices would drop as more smokers started and lower prices would attract new smokers. All this smoke would just mean more pollution and death. Some people figure the ?mystique? gone, after everyone does it, it will lose its power. Unfortunately, it is addictive, so as new generations try cigarettes the

older generations continue to smoke. Outlawing cigarettes is also an option. Once again, this may not be the best way. Smoking would just go underground much like liquor during the 20?s. A new prohibition period will have started. Now cigarettes become more ?mystique?. Prices shoot up causing the new cigarette dealers to prosper. And since cigarettes are addictive, the black market could get away with charging these new insanely high prices. Another way to deal with this would be take precautions, heighten standards, and stricken laws. This, in my opinion, would be the best solution. It would be the most effective which is bad news for your average teen smoker. Raising prices, increasing the fines for underage sales, and double-checking every I.D. would work as long as they are