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Smoking is America’s favorite  pastime. You love smoking and you know why you do it. It’s the reason why you get out of bed in the morning. It’s the reason you sit outside in -20 degree celsius temperatures. It’s the wedge of cheese at the end of long day at work. It’s also the stuff that you dream about. Who cares if it causes cancer, you’ve smoked it since you were 13.
pastime. You love it, you know you do.

On that note, let’s take a look at the top 10 reasons why teenagers choose to light up.

1. Peer Pressure:

Has a friend or classmate has ever pushed you into doing something you don’t want to do? If yes, you’ve experienced  what is known as peer pressure. This is how many kids start smoking. If a popular kid offers you a cigarette, you might think that you’ll become popular if you do what he or she says. When a close friend starts smoking, you many worry that you’ll lose the friendship if you turn your buddy down.

2. Cool:

Smoking a cigarette or a joint is seen as cool in high school. There is always a small group or a crowd that loves to hang out during smoke breaks. Others join in to fit in.

I remember how one of my friends tried to impress with me with his French inhale. This is a very “cool” technique that will prove you are a pot-smoking pro. Simply take a nice hit and then open your mouth (letting the smoke flow out slowly). Then, lightly inhale that smoke through your nose. If done right, the smoke will gradually flow out of your mouth and directly into your nostrils.

3. Parents smoke:

Teenagers are likely to smoke if they see their parents smoke. I’ve seen situations where parents would buy cigarettes for their kids or children steal cigarettes from their parents.

2,800 of  premature deaths were linked to low birthweight, the result of mothers smoking while pregnant. Approximately 2,000 of the deaths were due to sudden infant death syndrome caused by secondhand smoke. Another 1,000 are due to lung infections. 250 die from burns caused by cigarette-produced fires. 14 children die from asthma.

4. Others do it

I’ve heard of the expression where it is alright as long as others do it as well. It is wrong when you’re the only one doing it. This applies to both cigarettes and joints.

5. Addictive

Teenagers begin by having one cigarette and that’s all they plan on having. The nicotine in the cigarettes is addictive and that causes them to smoke daily.

Smoking tobacco literally means burning as well as inhaling the substances. The practice has been around since 5000 B.C.E when it was cultivated in South America. During the colonial years, American colonists harvested the tobacco crops and used it for subsistence.

Many wonder what the facts are relating to smoking cigarettes. I pulled out 10 fascinating facts that not many people would know, especially from looking at the carton.

1.

Cigarette smoking is a significant source of avertable morbidity and untimely mortality in the world.

2.

Half of the smokers who smoke for long term periods will die from the tobacco inside cigarettes. Remember that every cigarette you smoked cuts a minimum of five minutes of your life. This is about the same time it takes you to smoke it.

3.

Smoking costs the United States over $150 billion (average) a year in health care costs and expenditures. Canada spends about $3 billion dollars (average) a year on health care costs caused by smoking.

4.

Each day 3,000 children worldwide smoke their first cigarette. At least 3 million adolescents become regular smokers.

5.

For every 100,000 15 year old teenage smokers, 20,000 are likely to die from smoke related diseases before the age of 70. This is way below the average mortality rate in the Western Countries.

There comes a time, when smoking, like any bad habit, needs to be kicked. Fortunately, nowadays there are more than one ways to help one overcome this addiction, besides relying on a strong will. Here are the top 10 was to help smoker become Nicotine free.

1. List

Make a list of all the reasons why you want to quit smoking, as well as the benefits of becoming smoke free. Make several copies and place them in strategically places, where you will be constantly reminded and motivated to kick this destroying habit to the curb.

2. Support group

Find a person; relative, friend or a co-worker who would share this experience with you. It always helps to talk to someone who already went, or going through the same experience then you do. Interference is one of the stages to help an addict to reach a positive outcome, warn your support member upon any craving that you might have, positive reassurance and reminder will bring you back to the goal that you have already set for yourself.

3. Break the pattern

Do you have a certain time of the day, or a place that reminds or influences you to inhale that bitter tasting smoke into your lungs? You need to make changes into your every day routine, try to avoid places and people who might trigger your need to light up.

4. Replacement

Nicotine addiction is considered to be one of the most memorable and pleasant, for when you inhale the smoke, it sends the pleasure signals into your brain. In order to avoid blues and mood swings try to replace the time you spend smoking with a hobby or activity that gives you satisfaction.

5. Positive reinforcement

With all the money you now have left you need to spoil yourself and indulge in things and activities you though you could never afford. Try taking vocal classes, Bunge jumping, spa going, expensive car driving. These kind of incentives would sure give you adrenalin rush as well as the motivation to stay on track.