Smoke Signals
From a TV special
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Smoke Signals
tobacco use among teenagers is addressed.
1. (They show a woman on a television commercial w/ a cig burning away in the ashtray. You hear the sound of coughing in the background.
She said, "they say tobacco isn't addictive." then she inhales through the hole in her throat and smoke swirls around her neck area. Then she says, "How can they say that?"
That was just terrible, seeing smoke coming out of her throat
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2. Pam Laffin, a woman, age 31, smoked since 10 to win friends, She has lung cancer, emphy and is in a wheel chair. She has a hard time breathing and has to breathe through an inhaler. Pam knows she is going to die and can't do anything about it. She also takes tons of pills. The pills left her with trembling hands, a fat face and a hump on her neck. She said she was smoking to look older and she is sory to say that it worked.
The worse part to her is she feels her children are being punished for for something they had no control over. The children feel that it is not fair because they did not smoke. They have to help her every day w/ her daily life instead of participating in the normal activities of a child.
Her 4 children are all under 13 and this is very difficult for them to know that their mother is going to die and to watch her gasping for air because she can not breathe. one of the things that pam said was: "A lot of kids think they can quit before they get sick, but the thing is, you don't know when your gonna get sick."
At the end of the show, they had printed on the screen: In the fall of 2000 Pam lost her battle with lung cancer.
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other information that I got from the show:
1 out of every four 13 years olds has finished a cigarette. (my niece and nephew are in that 3 that didn't)
3 out of 4 teens who try to quit, fail.
the younger you are when you start smoking, the worse the consequences. it puts you at more at risk than adults who start smoking. therfore, when you start smoking is more important than how much you smoke.
why you smoke is as important as smoking itself.
85% of smoke from a cigarette goes right into the air.
beadies, indian cigs, 5 x more tobacco and nicotine and other toxic ingredients... there is no safe cigarette.
Is tobacco glamorous? that is what the tobacco companies want us to believe. why are we so easy to fool??
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