The First Cigarette
So you're stressed out, your dog died, and you haven't gone on a date in your entire life. You're fumbling to light your first cigarette and you have no clue how to inhale. You manage to take in a bit of smoke and take a deep breath. You probably hacked up a lung, but you managed to smoke some of it, right?
How old where you when you tried your first cigarette, or when do you remember your friends trying cigarettes? It was probably around middle school or high school, right? Although few people take up smoking after age 21, 1 million teenagers start smoking each year. Most teenage smokers try their first cigarette at 14.5 years of age and become regular smokers by 18. This statistic may seem a little scary, but realize that of those who are daily smokers in high school, 75% are smoking 7 to 9 years later. Ouch, that is really bad. What's even worse it that one in three of those who become regular smokers in adolescence will die from a tobacco-related illness (Giacopassi, Vandiver, 1999).