When you get in your car to go to work or the grocery store, do you ever stop and think "That might be the last time I see my family."? Have you ever checked the batteries for the smoke detectors in your house just in case there was ever a fire? Isn't it a responsibility for parents to warn their pre-teens about the dangers of drugs and safe sex? Maybe America should add something new to the list; tobacco. Every year tobacco kills more people than homicide, suicide, AIDS, car accidents, drugs, and alcohol combined. Smoking kills 440,000 Americans every year and is the single most preventable cause of early death. Tobacco abuse is one of the biggest problems facing Americans today.
The root of this ongoing problem lies within our own adolescence. Most adult smokers became addicted to tobacco before the age of 21. This is one's developing stage and the experiences he/she goes through during this time can prove to be very impressionable. Also, a person of this young age may be susceptible to peer-pressure and feel the need to do something they wouldn't usually do just to "fit in". People at this age show a trend to follow by example as well. This means that if a child's parent(s) smoke, then they are more likely to try a cigarette and become addicted to tobacco. Provided with this information, it is a relief to know that recent studies have shown that there has been a decline in teen-aged smokers since the mid 1990's. If this decline continues, there might be a few more Julia Roberts", Micheal Jordan's, Bill Gates", or Cindy Crawford's. .
With help from many willing, money-sucking tobacco companies, nearly 1 out of every 4 Americans has formed an addiction to tobacco. Cigarettes can be the cause or involved in causing cancer, limiting age, heart disease, causing strokes, pregnancy complications, etc. Overall, smoking tobacco is very damaging to ones health and could result in death. Cigarettes not only harm the smoker, but can also put the people around them in danger.