Young Adults and Cigarette Smoking. Cigarette smoking is a major cause of lung cancer and many other illnesses. At least one out of five death in American society caused by disease directly related to cigarette smoking. The overall smoking prevalence in the United States has been reduced considerably over the past 20 years; however, there have been only minimal reductions in smoking prevalence among adolescents and young adults. Among college students, the prevalence of use of cigarettes is still about 35%. Although smoking among adolescents and young adults is often associated as a bad, but temporary habit, determinants of smoking among college students and the amount of harm it causes to their health and health of others are largely unknown. I once was asked a question for which I can’t find the answer even today. Shortly before writing this paper I did some research and asked a few of my friends the same question. Give me at least one good reason why you are ignoring the danger that you know about so well? Some say that they smoke to relieve stress from school. Others say it gives them something to do at parties. Some say they get an intensified sensation from mixing tobacco and alcohol. Some say they've tried to stop so many times but can't. Others say that their grandparents have smoked all their life and are still alive and healthy. Besides, dying of cancer in 40 or 50 years seems to them a long, long way off. And you never know-you could get hit by a truck first. To be honest, none of these answers really answered my question. Most of the young smokers try smoking for the first time in middle school. But they don’t smoke often until they turn 16 and get a car. To them, driving, music, and smoking Marlboro or Newport all go together. Their main light-up time is usually right after school. That's the best cigarette of the day. My friends and I belong to a generation of teens that have received more education about th...
