I don't even remember when or why I started smoking. I tried my first
cigarette when I was in sixth grade. Believe it or not, I didn't do it to be
cool, it was just something that came naturally. Maybe that's the way it
happens for a lot of people -- at some point smoking a cigarette is just
assumed, almost like getting your driver's license.
My friends smoke. Most of my family used to smoke. And five years
down the line, I'm still smoking too. It's been on and off, but we are all
now starting to feel the repercussions -- we cough, hock up mucus, and do all
sorts of gross stuff. People who don't understand will ask stupid questions
like -- why? It's disgusting, and it tastes bad. It's bad for you, why do you
do it?
Because we enjoy it, that's why. Because there's nothing like
a smoker having his morning cup of coffee and lighting up a cigarette.
Because nothing compares to the satisfaction of stepping outside, away from
stress, having a cigarette and just thinking about it. Because we're not
allowed to do it and we know its bad, so we're drawn to it. And I guess we
also do it because we're addicted.
One thing I've noticed, is that every time you quit and start again,
you get more addicted, and it happens faster. At some point you're just a
social smoker, but then you find yourself fiending. School is awful on us.
There's no time for a morning cigarette and by lunch we're about ready to
bite someone's head off.
Society treats us like cockroaches, especially the adults. The
government bans us from bars, restaurants and every public place imaginable.
Everywhere I go, if I light up a cigarette, someone is always giving me an
evil look. I know it's bad. As soon as people pass the stage of smoking
because they think it looks cool, they realize that it's bad. We all know we
have to quit. Why do people have to make it that much worse by constantly
nagging us about it? Everyone always throws in their two cents. Adults will
give you the "don't-you-know-you'll-get-lung-cancer" or the
"you're-too-young speech". And most of the time, they honestly
think they're telling you something new. They really want to feel like they
did their good deed for the day.
But this really isn't the way to attack the problem. Kids smoke
because they're not supposed to, and the more people keep telling us to quit
and chasing us with pamphlets, models of larynxes and pictures of diseased
lungs, the cooler we'll be if we keep smoking.
The purpose of this article isn't to condone smoking, however,
because the habit and addiction is bad. The feeling of being addicted to
something, of depending on something other than yourself, the whole idea of
breathing poison, all those things are only a fraction of the evils of
cigarettes. What I'm trying to say is -- you've educated us. Now lay off and
let us deal with the problem ourselves.
And what about the cigarette tax? My personal opinion is that
it is pointless and unconstitutional. Why don't we regulate all the poisons
that go into our air from industries instead? It's not going to stop kids
from buying cigarettes, and it is unfair to the adults for whom it's
legal.
My suggestion is... make cigarettes legal. Better yet, use good old
reverse psychology. Encourage us to smoke, and just watch how fast we stop.
Just watch out. Since the war between teenagers and authority figures must go
on, it will be a matter of seconds before something comes along to replace
cigarettes. And if it's something like heroin, won't we all be much
sorrier?
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