Christine,
41% of the teenagers in South Dakota smoke.
I took my son to a gun safety course in rural Florida. We were the only ones in the class who didn't smoke or have a wad of snuff in our cheeks, and most of the attendees were teenagers. Tobacco use is indeed more prevalent among the rural population.
Certainly their are many reasons for the early use of tobacco, including parental use, socioeconomic level, etc. But I think the most important is peer group use.
Also, regarding your post to David, you mentioned oxygen dependence as a late sequella of chronic cigarette smoking. This is unfortunately quite common, in addition to lung cancer and cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke. My point is that if certain individuals require nicotine for its (paradoxical) calming effect, they should be given less toxic drugs. Unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, there is a powerful psychological addiction as well, the pleasureable events in life becoming associated with a cigarette. So we have a dual addiction, the substance and the delivery system.
Jack |
