Cigarette Smoking and Teens

Cigarette Smoking is one of the more addictive drugs that your Teen experiments with.

Have you ever smelled cigarette smoke on your teen? Most teens are aware that people who have smoked for awhile can get lung cancer and emphysema and eventually die, but many don't know about all of the bad things that smoking can to them right now. This guide provides some information about what smoking can do to your body and some of the common reasons why people keep smoking even though they know it's bad for them. These are important things to talk to your teen about if you think they may or even may not be smoking.

Many teens like the feeling that smoking gives them. This good feeling is from the nicotine in the cigarettes. Some teens think smoking will help them lose weight or stay thin. Many teens also feel like smoking gives them a sense of freedom and independence, and some smoke to feel more comfortable in social situations.

A cigarette contains about 4000 chemicals, many of which are poisonous. Some of the worst ones are:

Nicotine: a deadly poison
Arsenic: used in rat poison
Methane: a component of rocket fuel
Ammonia: found in floor cleaner
Cadmium: used in batteries
Carbon Monoxide: part of car exhaust
Formaldehyde: used to preserve body tissue
Butane: lighter fluid
Hydrogen Cyanide: the poison used in gas chambers

Here are some facts about what smoking cigarettes does to you:

Smoking makes you smell bad, gives you wrinkles, stains your teeth, and gives you bad breath.
Smokers get 3 times more cavities than non-smokers.
Smoking lowers your hormone levels.
When smokers catch a cold, they are more likely than non-smokers to have a cough that lasts a long time. They are also more likely than non-smokers to get bronchitis and pneumonia.
Teen smokers have smaller lungs and a weaker heart than teen non-smokers. They also get sick more often than teens who don't smoke.

Only 5% of teens think they will still be smoking in 5 years. Actually, about 75% of them are still smoking more than five years later. Here are some reasons to tell your teen to quit sooner rather than later:

Most teens would rather date a non-smoker.
They'll save money if they quit smoking. A pack of cigarettes costs about $5.00. Even if they only smoke a couple packs a week, they're spending about $40 per month and $480 per year on smoking. Think of all the other things they could use that money for.
They only have one pair of lungs. Any damage they do to them now will be with you for the rest of your life.
The longer a teen smokes, the better their chances are of dying from it. One out of 3 smokers die from smoking and many more become very sick.

There are a variety of reasons teens choose to smoke. They may choose to smoke for the following reasons:

Peer pressure
Entertainment
Curiosity
Rebellion
Stress

Teens often don't care about how smoking will affect them when they are older. However, as a parent you should be aware of the many long-term health problems that come from smoking:

About half a million people die every year from cancer, breathing problems, stroke, and other health problems caused by smoking.
Almost everyone who has lung cancer is either a smoker or lives with a smoker.
Smoking is the major cause of emphysema, a debilitating lung disease that makes you wheeze and pant and be unable to catch your breath.
Smokers have a two times greater risk of fatal heart disease and are more likely to have a stroke, which is a sudden damage to the brain from a blood vessel problem.
Smokers have a greater chance of having peptic ulcers, bone fractures, sleep disorders and more colds.
Smoking affects pregnant women and their unborn children. Smoking mothers have a greater risk of miscarriage and stillbirth.

The fact that cigarette smoking is dangerous is hardly new information. Cigarette smoking is the single most preventable cause of disease and early death in the United States. So why do so many teens continue to smoke? There are lots of reasons, they usually start for one reason or another and then it is really hard to quit. It is, but they can, lots of people do.

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