Opinion: Stamping out temptation
With the approval of the tobacco consumption age raised from 18 to 21 by Gov. Jerry Brown young adults will be able to avoid the addicting power of cigarettes and electronic smoking devices. For one student the bill is too little too late…
It’s relieving to know that starting next month, cigarettes will no longer be an issue for my wallet and health.
The California Legislature voted to raise smoking age from 18 to 21. This week, Governor Jerry Brown approved the bill, putting it into effect June 9.
The most frustrating thing about the bill is the realization that had I been born three years later, I might have never smoked my first cigarette.
I am an 18-year-old smoker with anxiety issues. Cigarettes help me loosen up at school and collect myself before going to class. Though the prescribed medication I take helps a great deal, there are times when only the power of a cigarette can put my mind and body at ease.
I started smoking last year, after a friend called and said he was having a bad day and needed help calming down. He suggested buying cigarettes, so we went to a 7-Eleven down the street and bought a pack of long Marlboro menthols.
It seemed innocent at the time.
Because experiencing a short moment of relaxation always seems a bigger concern than the long-term effects, it was easy for me to fall into a cycle of smoking cigarettes as a way to cope with stress.
The most common drug addiction is nicotine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Research suggests that nicotine is as addictive as heroin, cocaine, and alcohol.
I’m 18. I’m an adult. But like many teenagers, sometimes I act before I think The thoughts of tobacco addiction didn’t occur to me when I lit up my first cigarette. If they had, I never would have taken that first drag.
“Cigarette addiction is a myth,” I thought after finishing the first one. “I don’t like them that much. It won’t become a habit.”
The first few smokes were an experiment, but as the pack began to empty, the nicotine experience began to feel better and better.
About one in every 15 12th graders are daily smokers, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Services, a great decline since the late ‘90s which was one in every four high school seniors.
“These are gross,” my friend said while taking his first drag. About an hour later his was a different reaction. “I get it. I get why people smoke these,” he said.
As a child, I assumed commercials about getting help to quit cigarettes were blown out of proportion, but I was wrong.
As with any other addiction, quitting is easier said than done.
Smoking cigarettes feels great. That’s exactly the reason that smoking age should be raised.
Friends my age who are occasional smokers are avoiding the habit, but I have already developed a reliance on them has already developed.
“These are disgusting,” I say almost every time I smoke a cigarette. “This is the last pack.” Thinking about being at school without them scares me into buying more.
The younger someone starts smoking, the greater the chance of becoming a heavy smoker.
Nearly 9 out of 10 cigarette smokers first tried smoking before age 18, according to CPC.
Though the health risks of smoking cigarettes were not as widely known in the past, today we know that cigarettes can lead to many diseases in addition to lung cancer.
A study by researchers at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health concluded that cigarettes today have more nicotine compared to prior decades; tobacco companies are putting more chemicals into their cigarettes to ensure addiction and speed up the time for nicotine to hit the brain.
Smoking can be more harmful than alcohol because of its convenience. It only takes a few minutes to smoke a cigarette and a few more for the nicotine high to abate, the shortness of the effects leads to lighting another.
Opponents say there is no research that shows that increasing the smoking age will prevent teenagers from smoking. But then again, raising the smoking age has only been law in over 140 localities in 10 states.
Cigarettes are easily accessible. They are at liquor stores, gas stations, and markets. If a smoker wants some, they can find some.
But raising the smoking age to 21 will most likely deter teenagers from trying cigarettes. They are not going to want to go through the trouble of finding someone to buy some for them.
Teens look for the fastest way to get what they want. If cigarettes aren’t easy to get, then they won’t bother.
Some believe that the freedom that coincides with being an adult is more important than the health risks.
Health risks concern everyone, not just smokers. Getting black lung is a bigger issue than forfeiting the opportunity to contract it.
I am young and I hate the fact I love cigarettes. With the approval of the bill, the number of high schoolers smoking could start a dramatic decline.
High schoolers will have to wait longer to actually try cigarettes, an interest that might die out even before they graduate college.
Teenagers don’t always make good decisions, which is another reason why the new smoking age makes sense. A few more years to think it over could mean the difference between life and death.
