Why Do Teens Smoke?

Ken Chisholm
The fact that cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health is hardly new inform
ation. Cigarette smoking is the single most preventable cause of
disease and early death in the United States. So why do so many teens continue t
o smoke? There are lots of reasons, you usually start for one reason
or another and then it is really hard to quit. But you can--lots of people do.
Did you know that lung cancer caused by smoking is now the top female cancer kil
ler, claiming 27,000 more of women's lives each year than breast cancer?
And more teenage girls (about 30 percent) are smoking now than they did 10 years
ago. That's a big increase.
So why do people smoke? Nicotine. Nicotine acts in the brain where it can stimul
ate feelings of pleasure, and pleasure feels good! It also will work as
an appetite suppressant for many people; other people believe it relieves stress
. Ask any model her secrets for being thin; most say caffeine and cigarettes.

Addiction
Nicotine activates areas of the brain that are involved in producing feelings of
pleasure and reward. Recently, scientists discovered that nicotine
raises the levels of a neurotransmitter called dopamine in the parts of the brai
n that produce feelings of pleasure and reward. Dopamine, which is
sometimes called the pleasure molecule, is the same neurotransmitter that is inv
olved in addictions to other drugs such as cocaine and heroin.
Researchers now believe that this change in dopamine may play a key role in all
addictions. This may help explain why it is so hard for people to stop
smoking.
Experimental smoking usually begins the habit. Next comes occasional cigarette s
moking at parties, on weekends, with friends or when trying to lose
weight. This is the most dangerous stage, because it usually leads to an addicti
ve phase, when teens become regular smokers. People who start smoking
before the age of 21 have the hardest time quitting, and fewer than 1 in 10 peop
le who try to quit smoking succeed.
There is no safe amount of smoking. Every cigarette causes some harm to the body
. Once smoke touches the lips, it begins to attack living tissues,
and it continues its attack wherever it goes. Cigarette smokers have less abilit
y to carry oxygen to the rest of the body and this is why smokers
have less endurance when running or participating in sports.
Smokers also get wrinkles at an earlier age. The smoke changes the elasticity of
the skin and fine lines appear around the eyes and mouth. Your
clothes and hair will smell from smoke and pretty soon you can no longer smell i
t. Kissing a smoker is like kissing an ashtray.
Smoking Can Make You Sick
Smokers miss more days of school and work than nonsmokers because they get more
respiratory infections (colds, coughs, sore throats, and sinus
and ear problems). The infections are a result of damage to cilia in the lungs.
Cilia are tiny parts of the lung that act like little brooms,
sweeping out bacteria, viruses and dirt. When they stop clearing the lungs, the
germs and dirt stay there, resulting in more frequent and longer-lasting
colds.