Opinion: Smoking

Today my day started at 6 am. I slipped into bluejeans and a hoodie while eating a pancake and strawberries. I brushed through my curls and put my contacts in. I put on my eyeliner and mascara. I brushed my teeth, put on deoderant and sprayed my perfume before I slipped my heavy backpack over my shoulder and climbed the steps to a new day. My first and second hour classes went well. Then I went to homeroom. We watched a video today on Texting and Driving. Yes it was impactful and scared the shit out of me, considering I get my permit next week. But while the warning about distracted driving is handy, I took something else from the video. Decisions.

We've made decisions since we were young. Should I eat the olive on my finger, or should I throw it at my mom? Though our brains weren't processed enough to say the words in English, we still made the decisions. Whether the outcome was rational or not is irrelevant. I've made countless decisions since then. Some things as simple as wearing the red shirt or the orange one. And also things as big as, "should I leave what I've known all of my life and move 800 miles away to a northern frozen hell?"

I've always suffered the consequences of my decision; whether they were good or bad. But as for some people, I don't believe that they care about the consequences, or that the consequences don't apply to them.

I used to live in a town where underage smoking was common. Truth be known, I've never picked up any kind of plant to be smoked in my life . It isn't just the disgusting physical factors of the habit; yellow teeth, bad breath, dead brain cells, cancer, shortness of breath; but also the reliance and bad decisions that come with it.

A boy I was close to lied to me for 7 months about his smoking. If he would have told me when we met, if could have been different. I didn't see him much, but I loved him. I saw no signs of it at all. But he told me and I was crushed.

After cooling off for a few days, I tried to talk it over with him. I asked him if he'd stop smoking so we could try again. His response? I don't know. He basically said that he didn't want to give it up because it "relieves his stress." I know that psychological dependence on a drug is common, but last time I checked, tobacco didn't hinder your ability to make decisions. Needless to say, he's not getting a second chance.

Smoking kills over 5.4 million people every year. That's one every 6.5 seconds. It costs the U.S. government 92 Billion Dollars per year. Approximately .7% of our nation's debt. Smoking costs each taxpayer about 65$. I've been working for the American Cancer Society for 8 years now, and I've seen plenty of people suffer from tobacco related illnesses. I don't understand how people choose smoking over life.

Today I came home from school, ate my dinner, and then had tobacco chosen over me.