My 3-year old is a very perceptive (and somewhat nosey) little girl. She asks a lot of questions about people she sees when we go places. "Why is she doing that?" or "Why does he look like that?" are common kinds of questions. She’s not trying to be rude; she’s just curious about the world around her. One of her recent questions was "What is he doing? That stuff is stinky," referring to someone who was smoking. She wanted to know all about it: what smoking is, who does it and why. I felt like I was giving good answers until she asked her last question. “Why would someone start doing that if they know it’s bad for them?” That was a little harder for me to answer, especially in a way that a 3-year old would understand. I told her that a lot less people do it than used to, because they know it’s bad for their health and they know it can be hard to quit once they start. Then I read a new report about smoking rates in the U.S., and realized a lot more people still smoke than I would have thought. According to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 20 percent of Americans still smoke. What’s more, between 2000 and 2005 the number of smokers continued decline. But over the past 5 years, that decline has stopped. Officials at the CDC say tobacco companies have learned to sidestep laws to attract new smokers and direct marketing towards children. According to the report, "Thirty-one percent of smokers live below the poverty level, and 25 percent never graduated from high school compared with 6 percent of those with graduate degrees." This surprised me, especially because smoking is such an expensive habit. The average cost of a pack of cigarettes is $4.50-$5.00. Can you imagine how much money people can save if they quit? Especially if you’re living below the poverty level, that money could be used to buy groceries and other important items. But I know quitting is not as simple as just wanting to stop. The report also says that "Secondhand smoke remains a serious problem for 88 million nonsmokers. 54 percent of children aged 3 to 11 are exposed to secondhand smoke, and 98 percent of kids living with a smoker have measurable levels of toxic chemicals from cigarette smoke." So even though someone has the right to decide whether or not they start smoking and whether or not they continue, it doesn’t affect only them. It affects those around them as well. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the United States. But on a positive note, it does appear that many people are smoking less, even if they are still continuing the habit. Are you surprised by these numbers? Are you a former smoker? If so, how did you quit? |
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