FREE ESSAY ON SMOKING AMONG TEENAGERS

SMOKING AMONG TEENAGERS

Young Adults and Cigarette Smoking.
Cigarette smoking is a major cause of lung cancer and many other illnesses. At least one
out of five death in American society caused by disease directly related to cigarette
smoking. The overall smoking prevalence in the United States has been reduced
considerably over the past 20 years; however, there have been only minimal reductions in
smoking prevalence among adolescents and young adults. Among college students, the
prevalence of use of cigarettes is still about 35%. Although smoking among adolescents
and young adults is often associated as a bad, but temporary habit, determinants of
smoking among college students and the amount of harm it causes to their health and
health of others are largely unknown. 
I once was asked a question for which I can't find the answer even today. Shortly before
writing this paper I did some research and asked a few of my friends the same question.
Give me at least one good reason why you are ignoring the danger that you know about so
well? Some say that they smoke to relieve stress from school. Others say it gives them
something to do at parties. Some say they get an intensified sensation from mixing
tobacco and alcohol. Some say they've tried to stop so many times but can't. Others say
that their grandparents have smoked all their life and are still alive and healthy.
Besides, dying of cancer in 40 or 50 years seems to them a long, long way off. And you
never know-you could get hit by a truck first. To be honest, none of these answers really
answered my question. Most of the young smokers try smoking for the first time in middle
school. But they don't smoke often until they turn 16 and get a car. To them, driving,
music, and smoking Marlboro or Newport all go together. Their main light-up time is
usually right after school. That's the best cigarette of the day. My friends and I belong
to a generation of teens that have received more education about the hazards of tobacco
than any generation in history. As kindergartners, alarmed by the dangers of smoking, we
flushed our mothers' menthols. We have been shown the tricks cigarette makers used to
seduce children. We have seen the anticigarette ads that use humor to prevent smoking.
And we have seen stomach-turning photos of smokers' blackened lungs and ulcerated
tongues. That kind of reminds me, this can happen to me, but does it really make me stop
smoking? Does seeing fat people make you stop eating? You've got to do what makes you
happy, and smoking makes me happy. Nothing can stop us from getting rid of something that
we think to be just a bad habit, not even ruining health of other people that are around
us. 
Secondhand smoke is harmful to the health of nonsmokers. According to John R. Garrison,
secondhand smoke causes lung cancer and increases the risk of heart disease. This leads
to about 53,000 deaths that are caused by cigarette smoke among nonsmokers in the United
States. Secondhand smoke affects the health of adults and children who can not always
protect themselves: "Children do not choose to live in smoke-filled homes, and nonsmoking
adults can not control the smoky air they breathe at work." Take for example Bucks County
Community College, even though smoking inside of all the buildings on campus is
restricted, nonsmokers still have to breathe the air full of smoke while walking along
buildings' entrances. Especially at the entrances to Penn Hall and Founders Hall large
clouds of smoke are rising up from the mouths of young adults who are standing in a
little groups that from far away look like ant - hills. Sometimes the amount of smoke in
these areas is so large that it is hard to see a person that's standing next to you. It
also becomes very hard for people that do not smoke to get in or to get out from the
building. I have noticed how some of them close his or her mouth, hold the breath and try
to walk very fast, in order not to breathe the polluted air. I understand the problems
that are caused by secondhand smoke and even though I also smoke I always try to find not
too crowded place and than have a needed dose of nicotine. Many young adults and
teenagers that do smoke often don't realize the harm that they cause to their nonsmoking
friends even though the cigarettes they smoke are always the best brands like Marlboro
and Newport.
Marlboro and Newport are two the most popular brands among young smokers. The companies
that make these products are often blamed for their colorful ads and commercials that
attract young adults to by these cigarettes. I personally think that this is wrong
because the only people that do get attracted by these commercials and advertisements are
teenagers of 12 to 16 years old that are still trying to decide weather or not they
should star smoking. Yong adults, on the other hand, already made their choice and if
they chose not to smoke then not one, even the most colorful and sexiest advertisement in
the whole world would ever make them start. However, if they chose to smoke then no
commercials or ads would be able to stop them from doing so. American Government is also
trying to lower the percentage of young smokers by raising up tobacco tax. But it seems
that it doesn't bother young smokers more over the larger population of adult smoking
have to deal with it. It seems like nothing in this world can stop young adults from
smoking. 
Every year thousands of people in the United States are dying form lung cancer and
related decease caused by smoking cigarettes. Even though the overall smoking prevalence
in the United States has been reduced considerably over the past 20 years the percentage
among the college students is still very high. Many people have been looking for a good
answer why do young adults choose to smoke but unfortunately not many could find this
answer. Their reasons why they choose to smoke are very different; however, none of them
are real reasons. They think the antismoking commercials are corny and out of touch,
especially those that tell parents to talk to their kids about smoking. Their parents
criticize them smoking all the time, yet they still do it. And laws that punish teens and
young adults for buying cigarettes only make smoking more attractive. Young adults ruin
their health and health of their nonsmoking friends, family members and neighbors by
making them breathe in polluted by the cigarettes' smoke air. 
Finally, the decision to smoke is their choice. They just think the risks are worth
taking compared to the enjoyment they get. They would much rather die at 65 and look back
and say, " I did what floated my boat", than live to 95 and say," I didn't do anything.