Top 5 Reasons People Start Smoking

If we were to look at the mortality rate of smoking for smokers and nonsmokers it is mind boggling to consider why people actually start smoking. On a yearly basis over half a million people will die directly related to smoking. The majority of these people are smokers themselves but did you know that over 50,000 people die each year because of simply being exposed to secondhand smoke? So with numbers like these why do people smoke? For starters most people begin to smoke when they are young adults when they give little thought to whom they are hurting even themselves.

There are 5 main reasons why people start smoking:

1. When Rebellion

2. When Peer Pressure

3. When One or Both Parents Smoke

4. When A Role Model Smokes

5. When There is a Perceived Status Symbol - ie. being cool

During the teenage years it can be very stressful, trying to find their identity, fitting in, taking risks, and lets not forget being impulsive and indestructible. You know what I am talking about, we have all been there. Many young adults start smoking for these very reasons without fully understanding the risk they are taking. Many think that they will be able to quit at will and that they aren't hurting anyone. Studies have shown that nearly 6,000 teens, per day, under the age of 17 take up smoking while 34 percent of them will become regular smokers. That is over 700,000 young adults who start smoking each year.
Once a person becomes addicted to smoking, physically and psychologically, it can be extremely hard to quit. In the early stages of smoking it provides a pleasurable experience, bursts of energy, the feeling of being alert, and light headedness. But over time these affects dwindle away forcing the smoker to smoker more and more to try and obtain the same effect. Eventually it is too late and smokers have to continue to smoke to avoid nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Over time smoking also becomes a crutch for many, used to handle anxiety, boredom, stress, weight management, tension, etc.
The point is tobacco use is a problem in the United States, nearly 1 in 5 people smoke and as these people start dying off or quitting new victims need to be found and the target is set on the young adults of this country.