Teens Smoking Cigarettes: Quick Facts

Many parents call me about their teens and sometimes tweens that are lighting up.  We like to say pick and choose issues, and we don’t condone smoking cigarettes – but we can’t panic. 

Continue talking to our kid about how damaging smoking cigarettes is to your body as well as your overall health.  Smoking is not cool – but it is cool to be an educated parent.  More survey's and research is proving today that our kid's are listening to parents and they are the biggest influence on their children.  First and foremost, they have to be a good role model. 

Most people who smoke first light up a cigarette when they’re teens. In fact, 80% of smokers began the habit before they turned 18.

Here are a few quick facts about cigarette smoking, nicotine and tobacco that you may not have heard before. Even if you have, they’re facts that are worth keeping in mind when your friends and relatives light up a cigarette.

1. Nearly 70% of people who smoke say they wish they could quit.
2. Teens who smoke cough and wheeze three times more than teens who don’t smoke.
3. Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, lung disease and strokes.
4. Smokers as young as 18 years old have shown evidence of developing heart disease.
5. More than 70% of young people who smoke said they wish they hadn’t started doing it.
6. Smoking a pack of cigarettes each day costs about $1,500 per year — enough money to buy a new computer or Xbox.
7. Studies show that 43% of people who smoke three or fewer cigarettes a day become addicted to nicotine.
8. More than 434,000 Americans die each year from smoking-related diseases.
9. One-third of all new smokers will eventually die from a smoking-related disease.
10. Nicotine — one of the main ingredients in cigarettes — is a poison.
11. Nicotine is as addictive as heroin and cocaine.
12. All tobacco products — that includes cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco — have nicotine in them.
13. Smoking makes you feel weaker and more tired because it prevents oxygen from reaching your heart.
14. Smoking decreases your sense of taste and smell, making you enjoy things like flowers and ice cream a little bit less.
15. Smoking hurts the people around you: More than 53,000 people die each year from secondhand smoke.
16. Cigarettes have tons of harmful chemicals in them, including ammonia (found in toilet cleaner), carbon monoxide (found in car exhaust) and arsenic (found in rat poison).
17. Quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health.
18. Just days after quitting smoking, a person’s sense of taste and smell returns to normal.
19. Ten years after quiting smoking, a person’s risk of lung cancer and heart disease returns to that of a non-smoker.
20. Most teens (about 70%) don’t smoke. Plus, if you make it through your teen years without becoming a smoker, chances are you’ll never become a smoker.

Adapted from “50 Things You Should Know About Tobacco” by Journeyworks Publishing.

World No Tobacco Day 2012

On 31st May each year World Health Organization (WHO) celebrates World No Tobacco Day, highlighting the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocating for effective policies to reduce consumption.

World No Tobacco Day 2012 will educate policy-makers and the general public about the tobacco industry's nefarious and harmful tactics.

Tobacco use is one of the leading preventable causes of death.  As a parent you can be a role model and an example to others.

Does your teen smoke?


No one needs a reminder that smoking is bad for you, but here are some key facts about tobacco:

• Tobacco kills up to half of its users.
• Tobacco kills nearly six million people each year, of whom more than 5 million are users and ex users and more than 600 000 are nonsmokers exposed to second-hand smoke. Unless urgent action is taken, the annual death toll could rise to more than eight million by 2030.
• Nearly 80% of the world's one billion smokers live in low- and middle-income countries.
• Consumption of tobacco products is increasing globally, though it is decreasing in some high-income and upper middle-income countries.

Many kids or teens start smoking due to peer pressure.  It is important that parents talk to their kids early about the risks of smoking and all substance use.

Communication is key to prevention.  

Tobacco Free Florida Quitline is a tremendous resource and hotline for both parents and teens to help you and your child kick this habit.

Join me on Facebook  and follow me on Twitter for more information and educational articles on parenting today's teenagers.

Learn more about WHO and TFI click here.

Tobacco Free Florida: Make 2012 Your Year to Get Healthy!

The Florida Department of Health’s (DOH) fourth annual Tobacco Free Florida Week (March 26-April 1) will raise awareness about the dangers of secondhand smoke (SHS). Themed “Fresh Air for All,” Tobacco Free Florida Week takes a close look at how SHS impacts everyone, especially the state’s most vulnerable. It is an opportunity to educate your audience about tobacco-related issues in your community and to encourage tobacco users to quit.

Did you know that 9 out of 10 smokers started in their teens?  Most of them believing they would never become addicted.

In Florida, Big Tobacco spends more than $700 million in marketing.  Why so much? They see it as an investment to help replace the people  that die from smoking… 1,200 people a day.

STUDENTS WORKING AGAINST TOBACCO (SWAT)

SWAT is Florida’s statewide youth organization working to mobilize, educate and equip Florida youth to revolt against and de-glamorize Big Tobacco. They are a united movement of empowered youth working towards a tobacco free future. There’s a group of people on one side selling a product (cigarettes, cigars, hookah, chewing tobacco and more) that some teens are using. Those products are highly addictive and many teens that begin using them are never able to quit. On the other side, groups like SWAT and Tobacco Free Florida, are working to make sure as many teens as possible never start using tobacco. Join the movement!

Learn more about Tobacco Free Florida Week 2012 coming soon. Visit http://www.tobaccofreeflorida.com/ and join them on Facebook.

Give a to gift your family: Quit Smoking

Because of the dramatic impact that tobacco use has on families, Tobacco Free Florida is airing an advertisement called  “Separation” around Mother’s and Father’s Day—a time when families are paying particularly close attention to togetherness and special memories.  

We want to remind parents that the most valuable gift they can give their children is time.  If they are smokers, then quitting now will give them more time to spend with their children.  More time for more special moments, more memories, more Mother’s Days together. It is our hope that smokers will be inspired by this ad to visit TobaccoFreeFlorida.com to learn more about how to quit tobacco use.  

Isn't it time you quit smoking? 

Teen Smoking - Quitline Available 24/7

Smoking cigarettes or smoking pot, which do you prefer your teenager puff?

Many times you will have to hear the old saying, pick and choose your issues wisely.  In reality we don't want our teens smoking at all, well hopefully parents feel that way.

Both of these smoking habits can be addictive to your teen.  They believe they can't live without, it calms them down, it makes them feel cool or whatever other reason they can give to condone it.  At the end of the day, smoking is not good for you and this has been proven over and over again.
Smoking pot is not legal, so skipping over that, let's discuss smoking cigarettes.
Florida is proactive in helping people quit smoking.

Each year, thousands of Floridians quit using tobacco. Many more try, but fail. The Florida Quitline was established to help those with a desire to free themselves from cigarettes, smokeless and all other forms of tobacco to successfully reach their goal, and offers all of its services free of charge in both English and Spanish. Here’s how it works:

1. With a single, toll-free call to 1-877-U-CAN-NOW, you can schedule an appointment with one of the Quitline’s trained counselors.

2. At an approximate time of your choosing, one of these skilled professionals will call you back to work with you one on one. Together, you’ll develop a plan to finally rid yourself of tobacco for good.

3. Our tobacco specialists will be there for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week to support you, offer tips and provide any information you may need.

If you’re ready to Be Free, call 1–877–U–CAN–NOW today and join other Floridians in living a happier, healthier life. If you know others who need help, click the link below to send them an email message encouraging them to call the Quitline today.

Pass it on to anyone you know that smokes, you never know when you will save a life.

Visit Florida Quitline for more information.

Be an educated parent, you will have healthier teens.

Read more.

Sue Scheff: Tobacco Free Florida

Unveiled in 2008 under the direction of the Florida Department of Health, the Tobacco Free Florida campaign seeks to decrease the number of tobacco users in the state of Florida through efforts aimed at both preventing nonusers from starting to use tobacco and encouraging current users to quit. These efforts are funded by money derived from court settlements against major tobacco companies, and include executions in the realm of Advertising, Public Relations, Interactive, Guerilla Media, Event Media, Sponsored Promotions and more.

Learn more at http://tobaccofreeflorida.com/ and read more about Florida's Quitline and Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT).  Click here.