Thoughts for " World No Tobacco Day "

How to sell the anti-tobacco view to teenagers  ? They are

    the ones about to make a decision as critical to their lives as

    marriage and career. There are bill boards everywhere -aimed at teens-

    associating an ugly and unhealthy habit with happy mental states - a

    a pleasant Dionysian life. Somehow Apollo must come to their rescue.

          I remember a friend of mine at age 17 - even way back then a heavy

    smoker- out of breath as he struggled up College Hill in Providence. At

    45 has not yet paid the full price of tobacco addiction.

          People think that if they can make it to " old age ", then they

    got away with it - overcame the danger of the addiction.

         I believe that it not just a matter of lung cancer or heart disease.

    The poisons in cigarette smoke must harm us at the level of basic,

    cellular biochemistry. We are mentally and physically -even young teen

    agers- less than what we can be when we smoke.

         My 17 year old friend struggled up College Hill. But I'm convinced

    that college itself is more of a " struggle " for kids who smoke.

         That brain needs a " user friendly " blood supply. I'll bet that

    tobacco smoke actually makes us dumber. The great THOUGHT eludes us

    because we smoke.

          Enjoy life ? Well, we only KNOW we are alive because of our five

    senses. If one morning we realize that we can't smell or taste very

    well, we are really almost half dead. A huge area of our brain is

    devoted to our sense of smell, the most evocative of the five senses.

    If we can't smell our food, forget the Epicurean life style.

        Despite those bill board, girls who don't smoke are on the whole

    prettier than girls who do. It has something to do with the circulation

    of the blood. Check them out in five years, see who looks YOUNGER!

         Just some thoughts for World No Tobacco Day.