Teen Smoking

For some reason yesterday I got into a conversation about what appears to be a problem that is not going away anytime soon…that being the number of teen-agers who seem to be smoking. Then this morning I heard on our news that the Ritacco Center in Toms River will host more than a thousand sixth-graders from all over Ocean County today who pledge to not use tobacco. My question is with the growing cost of cigarettes what teen-ager could even afford to start this repulsive and dangerous lifestyle because choosing to smoke is a lifestyle choice.

If you follow the news then you know a 62-cent increase in the federal cigarette tax becomes law today and with state tax increases the average price of a pack of cigarettes in New Jersey will be in the $8.00 range and in some cases even higher. The federal tax increase is aimed at funding the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program but if studies are correct it should also serve as a deterrent to smokers. Every 10% increase in the price of cigarettes reduces youth smoking by about 7% and overall cigarette consumption by about 4%.

If you want to assume the average teenager smokes a pack a day at let’s say $8 a day that’s $56 per week. I have a 17-year old daughter and I can tell you there is no way she could afford the habit because that’s about what I might give her during a week for food and gas. I don’t know if teenagers are working to support their cigarette habit or some have learned the art of “bumming butts” from friends but now would be the time to stop or better yet never start smoking.

It’s a habit I have never understood as smokers stink, often look awful, have a much better chance of being sick and even dying and now face the challenge of having to figure out how to pay for a pack of smokes. Seems the cool thing to do is give it up.