When your parents were young, people could buy cigarettes and smoke pretty much anywhere - even in hospitals! Ads for cigarettes were all over the place. Today Smoking is restricted or banned in almost all public places and cigarette companies are no longer allowed to advertise on buses or trains, billboards, TV, and in many magazines. Almost everyone knows that smoking causes cancer, emphysema, and heart disease; that it can shorten your life by 14 years or more; and that the habit can cost a smoker thousands of dollars a year. So how come people are still lighting up? Addiction.

Once you Start, It’s Hard to Stop
Almost no smoker begins as an adult. Some teens who smoke say they start because they think it helps them look older (it does - if yellow teeth and wrinkles are the look you want). Others smoke because they think it helps them relax (it doesn't - the heart actually beats faster while a person's smoking). Some light up as a way to feel rebellious or to set themselves apart (which works if you want your friends to hang out someplace else while you're puffing away). Some start because their friends smoke - or just because it gives them something to do.

How Smoking Affects Your Health
There are no physical reasons to start smoking - the body doesn't need tobacco the way it needs food, water, sleep, and exercise. In fact, many of the chemicals in cigarettes are actually poisons that can kill in high enough doses. Over the long term, smoking leads people to develop health problems like cancer, emphysema (breakdown of lung tissue), organ damage, and heart disease. These diseases limit a person's ability to be normally active - and can be fatal. Each time a smoker lights up, that single cigarette takes about 5 to 20 minutes off the person's life.

Smokers not only develop wrinkles and yellow teeth, they also lose bone density, which increases their risk of osteoporosis. Smoking can also cause fertility problems in both men and women and can impact sexual health in males.

The consequences of smoking may seem very far off to many teens, but long-term health problems aren't the only hazard of smoking. Nicotine and the other toxins in cigarettes, cigars, and pipes can affect a person's body quickly, which means that teen smokers experience many of these problems:
- Bad skin. Because smoking restricts blood vessels, it can prevent oxygen and nutrients from getting to the skin - which is why smokers often appear pale and unhealthy. An Italian study linked smoking to an increased risk of psoriasis, a type of skin rash.
- Bad breath. All those cigarettes leave smokers with a condition called halitosis, or persistent bad breath.
- Bad-smelling clothes and hair. The smell of stale smoke tends to linger - not just on people's clothing, but on their hair, furniture, and cars. And it's often hard to get the smell of smoke out.
- Reduced athletic performance. People who smoke usually can't compete with nonsmoking peers because the physical effects of smoking - like rapid heartbeat, decreased circulation, and shortness of breath - impair sports performance.
- Greater risk of injury and slower healing time. Smoking affects the body's ability to produce collagen, so common sports injuries, such as damage to tendons and ligaments, will heal more slowly in smokers than nonsmokers.
- Increased risk of illness. Studies show that smokers get more colds, flu, bronchitis, and pneumonia than nonsmokers. And people with certain health conditions, like asthma, become more sick if they smoke or are around people who smoke.

· Put it in writing. Write down all the reasons why you want to quit smoking, such as the money you will save or the stamina you'll gain for playing sports. Keep that list where you can see it, and add to it.
· Get support. People whose friends and family help them quit are much more likely to succeed. You might consider joining a support group, either in person or online.
· Set a quit date. Pick a day that you'll stop smoking. Tell your friends (and family, if they know you smoke) that you're going to quit smoking on that day. Mark it on your calendar.
· Throw away your cigarettes - all of your cigarettes. People can't stop smoking with cigarettes still around to tempt them. Get rid of your ashtrays and lighters, too.
· Wash all your clothes. Get rid of the smell of cigarettes as much as you can by washing all your clothes. If you smoked in your car, clean that out, too.
· Avoid situations where you tend to smoke. For example, if you smoke when you drive, get a ride to school, walk, or take the bus for a few weeks.
· Substitute something else for cigarettes. It can be hard to get used to not holding something and having something in your mouth. If you have this problem, stock up on carrot sticks, sugar-free gum, mints, toothpicks, or even lollipops.
· Keep yourself busy. The more distracted you are, the less likely you'll be to crave cigarettes.
· If you slip up, don’t give up! Think about your slip as one mistake. Take notice of when and why it happened and move on.
· Reward yourself. Set aside the money you usually spend on cigarettes. When you've stayed tobacco free for a week, 2 weeks, or a month, buy yourself a treat like a new CD, book, movie, or some clothes.

Addiction Resource Council (262) 524-7921
Freedom From Smoking (6 week program to help you quit) (414) 649-6073
Nicotine Anonymous (414) 964-6579
Nicotine Dependence Program (414) 649-6572
Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line (877) 270-7867