In the late 1990's, the statistics showed that approximately 25% of teens smoke. That's one out of every four teenagers. High school is a tough time for teens. These years are critical to a teens future. This explains why a vast majority of smokers start at 16 years or younger with the most common age being 14

The first way would be the easiest way. Do nothing about it. The government just backs off and lets it be. "Let them smoke if they want." This would be the easiest way but defiantly not the best way. Smokers would begin to run rampant. All these statistics would sky rocket. Prices would drop as more smokers started and lower prices would attract new smokers. All this smoke would just mean more pollution and death. Some people figure the "mystique" gone, after everyone does it, it will lose its power. Unfortunately, it is addictive, so as new generations try cigarettes the older generations continue to smoke.

Some, ignorant, people ask, "Why is teen smoking a problem?" For those people who have been living in a hole for the past 25 years, I'll explain it. Tobacco kills more people than alcohol, cocaine, crack, heroin, homicide, suicide, car accidents, fires and AIDS combined. Smoking is the number one cause of almost every type of cancer including but not exclusive to lung cancer and throat cancer. It also leads to other lung problems such as emphysema. In addition, smoking has been proven to affect people's blood and blood pressure making people more prone to heart disease and heart attacks. The diseases and problems associated with smoking all take years to develop. Therefore the earlier a person starts smoking; theoretically the earlier they will become ill with smoking related diseases. A person who starts smoking in their teens can be diagnosed with cancer in their 30's but it usually doesn't affect them until they are 40-60. More than 434,000 people die each year from tobacco related illnesses, making it the single most preventable cause of death in the U.S. In Florida alone, more than 28,000 deaths annually (23% of total deaths) are tobacco related.

Another way to deal with this would be take precautions, heighten standards, and stricken laws. This, in my opinion, would be the best solution. It would be the most effective which is bad news for your average teen smoker. Raising prices, increasing the fines for underage sales, and double-checking every I.D. would work as long as they are ENFORCED. If they are enforced you will notice teen smoking will decrease. Also encouraging parents, teachers, priests, and all other influential figures to enlighten kids on the facts and dangers of smoking at young ages would also decrease teen smoking. The key there is to enforce and reinforce the dangers to kids from the time they are 6 until they are 18. Parents who tell their kids not to smoke once when their kids are 10 are more likely

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Approximate Word count = 1724
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)