The most recent national survey data show that adolescent smoking rates continue to rise. Lung cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women, surpassing breast cancer in 1987. This year alone, lung cancer will kill nearly 68,000 women in the United States. Women who stop smoking greatly reduce their risk of dying prematurely, and quitting smoking is beneficial at all ages. Due to advertisements now often targeting adolescent women, it is easy to see why they start to smoke. There are also psychological reasons such as stress relief, which makes women even more addicted to smoking cigarettes. I do believe there are ways we can decrease the going rate of adolescent smoking. Family, schools, and awareness can play a major role in doing so.
Before we can try to decrease the smoking rate among adolescent women, we must look at why they start smoking. Many teen women see smoking as a way to relax and deal with stress, which is not true because smoking cigarettes is proven to cause anxiety. Smoking is also viewed as a way to make friends and be accepted by peers. Teen women who smoke may believe it is a way to gain
Some clinical intervention studies suggest that women may have more difficulty quitting smoking than men. Most adolescent smokers who are addicted to nicotine report that they want to quit but are unable to do so. Since nearly all first-time use of tobacco products occurs before high school graduation, keeping adolescents tobacco-free will greatly reduce the use and addiction of cigarette smoking. Through out everyone's life, family and friends play an important role. Often we do things, or not do things, depending on what they say. I think that almost everyone knows someone who is addicted to smoking and if we all tried our best to get them to quit, that would make a major difference. I also believe that schools and the government should spend more time in promoting awareness of the consequences of smoking. If young children realize the ill effects of smoking just one cigarette, they will never start. I think that everyone has to play their part in order to stop this epidemic because it has already gotten out of hand.
Adolescent women have been targeted in many cigarette advertisements ever since the 1960's. Brands such as
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