Part One: 1000 Philly Smokers by Sarah Fry

First Edition Copyright ÂŠ 2011 by Temple University Photojournalism Department All Rights Reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form. Printed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA Trayes Publications Philadelphia, PA 19122 www.1000phillysmokers.com 2

1000

Philly Smokers Editors: James Sindaco and Sarah Fry Copy Editor: Arielle Morgan Photography, Interviews and Research by Photo Seminar 2011: Alex Udowenko, Amelia Blanda, Andrew Curtis, Andrew Cybularz, Angela Mayo, Arielle Morgan, Caitlin Morris, Brad Larrison, Diana Reynolds, Hillary Petrozziello, Ian Darrenkamp, Ian Watson, James Sindaco, Jessie Fox, Kara Mortellite, Katelynn Luczkow, Kelsey McDowell, Lee Miller, Lisa Wilk, Loren Golden, Maria Pouchnikova, Philip Forrest, Saleem Ahmed, Samantha Gray, Sarah Fry, Sarah Schu, Theresa Regan, Walbert Young

Contents Dedication............7 Acknowledgments..9 Preface.................10 Chapter 1..............12 Chapter 2..............44 Chapter 3..............76 Chapter 4.............108 Chapter 5..............138 Chapter 6..............170 Chapter 7..............202 Chapter 8..............232 Chapter 9..............264 Chapter 10............294 Chapter 11.............318 Chapter 12.............354

We dedicate this book to the Photo Seminar I and II classes in the spring of 2011. We also dedicate it to all people who have ever smoked a cigarette in the city of Philadelphia.

Support for this project, one of a number undertaken and completed during the academic year, comes in part from “Community Collaborations: Temple University and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s PhilaPlace Project;” Professors Christopher Harper (Journalism), Christine Woyshner (Education), and Edward Trayes (Journalism), principal investigators. The provost seed grants support multi-disciplinary research and creative collaborations that may lead to additional funding for such efforts as well as bring increased recognition to Temple University. We would like to thank Professor Dr. Edward Trayes for the original inspiration for the project and the encouragement throughout the completion of this massive undertaking. We thank him for being the catalyst for gaining the funds to complete the project. Without funding or support none of this would be possible. In addition we would like to thank all of the people who were interviewed for the 1000 smoker project.

This project began with a statistic. The Pennsylvania Department of Health stated in its report Pennsylvania Tobacco Facts 2009/2010 that 25 percent of adults in Philadelphia County are smokers. That’s five percent higher than the nationwide prevalence of adult smokers, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate to be 20.6 percent. The most recent data about smoking in other U.S. cities is from a 2000 study carried out by the CDC, Cigarette Smoking in 99 Metropolitan Areas. When this study was conducted, 23.7 percent of adults in Philadelphia smoked. That figure places Philadelphia first in prevalence of adult smoking, out of the ten most populous cities in the U.S. To bring a human dimension to these data, our class set out to photograph 1,000 smokers in the city of Philadelphia. For one month, starting February 1st, 2011, we wandered the city in the cold, alone or in groups, hunting for smokers. We asked strangers and friends to pose for a portrait and to answer three questions: their name, how long ago they started smoking and why they started. Some people refused to talk to us. Some people answered with a few curt words. Some of the people we talked to, though, told us stories, sometimes revealing intimate details about their lives – or, at the very least, allowing us glimpses into their memories. We heard stories about family members, break-ups, drug use, addiction, incarceration, teenage rebellion and teenage conformity. By March, we were done shooting. The month of March was spent planning, designing, and creating this book and preparing for the accompanying exhibition, which involved building a structure from which we would hang – with fishing wire – mounted prints of all the smokers’ portraits. This process extended into early April. 10

As our deadline and the date of the exhibition approached, we crowded into our shared workspace – a former wet darkroom, converted to a digital lab, in the basement of Annenberg Hall. Altogether, we have spent more than 1,000 hours compiling the book, copy-editing, printing, mounting, double-checking facts and captions, tying knots in fishing wire, cutting mat board, painting, measuring, and gluing. We sacrificed food, good grades in other classes, social lives, and sleep to spend hours and days in the confined space of the lab, figuring out how to work together – despite our different personalities, work ethics, outlooks, and own personal issues – to get everything done. We talked to 1,000 different people with 1,000 different stories. When asked why they started smoking, though, the same two reasons seemed to come up again and again: they started smoking socially, to be around other people; or they started because of their nerves, their stress, or their anxiety. By the time we finished this project, our nerves were worn thin, and not just from the huge volume of work we had to do. We also had to deal with personality clashes, paper cuts, bruised fingers, minor meltdowns caused by extreme fatigue, a never-ending list of things that needed to be fixed, and heavy glue fumes. Despite all the challenges this project presented to us – whether they were arguments, refusals, bad weather, personal injury, or simply complete and utter mental exhaustion – we put aside our differences and ignored our own personal problems to work together and push it to completion. The 1,000 smokers we talked to were from a range of backgrounds. They, too, surely have their own individual problems – but, like us, they’re just people. We don’t know much about them, except what they told us in their interviews. The 1,000 people whose portraits appear in this book, though, have more things in common with us – and with every other human being – than we realize. At some level, we all deal with the same things: the relentless trials of being human. We also long for the same things: for other people to be with us, sharing our experiences and working alongside us to make it through. 11

Chapter 1

The cultivation of the tobacco plant dates all the way to pre-Columbian America, where, at

the time, smoking was used for medicinal

and ceremonial purposes.

Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, and with him he carried tobacco seeds and leaves, giving the tobacco plant a new home in Europe. The plant did not become popular until the mid-16th century when adventures and diplomats gave it it’s name, literally. Nicotine

was named after a French ambassador, Jean Nicot. A botanist friend of Nicot’s, from Lisbon, told him of tobacco’s healing properties, and Nicot was convinced after seeing a friend’s facial wound healed after being treated with tobacco leaves. Thanks to his great number of connections, Nicot was soon able to send tobacco snuff (ground or pulverized tobacco leaves) to the Queen of France, who used it to cure chronic migraines. Tobacco made its way back to the Americas in 1612, where it was cultivated as a commercial crop in Virginia by an Englishman, John Rolfe. Seven years later, it became the colony’s largest export. Tobacco was stuffed, chewed, and snorted, but didn’t make its way into cigarettes until after the Civil War. Sales of this “bright” tobacco quickly took off. One idea sparked the next, and tobacco farmers began to experiment with new strains. Sales went up again when White Burley tobacco leaf was introduced, and again in the 1880’s when the first practical cigarette-making machine was invented, sponsored by tobacco baron, James Buchanan. As smoking became more prevalent, people were unaware of the health risks involved. In fact, most early European physicians believed that tobacco was an effective medicine. Smoking continued to be lauded with positive advertising, especially in the 20th century. Ads glorified smoking and made it look fashionable and distinguished. It was normal to see doctors testifying about the safety of tobacco use in advertisements. Camel produced an ad during the 1960s that read, “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette! The 14

doctor’s choice is America’s choice.”

It wasn’t until the 1930s that researchers from Germany made a connection between smoking and cancer. Their research was published in Cologne, and eight years later Dr. Raymond Pearl of Johns Hopkins University reported his findings that smokers do not live as long as non-smokers. In 1944 the American Cancer Society began to warn about possible ill effects of smoking, although no direct relationship between smoking and cancer could be proven. An article was then published in Reader’s Digest in 1952 called “Cancer by the Carton.” The article paid close attention to the dangers of smoking and won over the attention of the general population in America; sales declined for the first time in nearly two decades. Tobacco companies acted quickly and embraced the idea of a “healthier smoke.” In 1954, with the help of the Tobacco Industry Research Council, tobacco companies began mass marketing filtered cigarettes and new, The public responded, and sales increased once again.

low-tar formulations.

Once the scientific links between health problems and cigarette smoking were confirmed, the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health was organized to investigate further. The committee released a 387-page report in 1964 entitled “Smoking and Health,” which says, “Cigarette smoking is causally related to lung cancer in men. The data for women, though less extensive, point in the same direction.” It was accompanied by a list of the most harmful carcinogens in cigarette smoke, including cadmium, DDT, and arsenic. In 1965, Congress passed the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, requiring the Surgeon General’s warnings on all cigarette packages. In 1971, all broadcast advertising became banned. Finally, in 1995, President Clinton announced FDA plans to regulate tobacco, especially sales and advertising aimed at minors.

Tobacco has been cultivated and used for centuries – today,

smokers can be found at almost every corner. It seems to have remained as popular as ever, despite the litany of health risks and warnings against smoking. Tobacco is no longer prescribed medicinally. Even though lung cancer has not been directly linked to smoking, many studies have been done that prove that smoking is unhealthy. All cigarette boxes are stamped with a Surgeon General’s label; people may be aware of the risks and recognize that smoking is harmful, but in many cases, that isn’t enough motivation to kick the habit. Smoking has proven to be a timeless trend, burning its way through history. 15

Dakota

Lisa

Sean

I started smoking just for fun, actually. I was 12 and it was fun to hide under the railroad tracks and just take a few puffs of a cigarette. The E cigarette I’ve been smoking for about I’d say four months now and I like it. I’ve met a lot of smokers that don’t really like to smoke the E cigarette because they feel like it’s almost as um… like masturbation...I just like being able to still smoke and not have the nicotine in me now, that’s all.

I started smoking at the age of 15, which was ten years ago. And I started smoking because all my friends did.

I started smoking when I was 21. And why? Because all of my friends were doing it, and once I did it…I actually hated the thought of smoking but once I did it I was like ok, this is kind of cool. So I became addicted to it and I really wish I hadn’t, but I have. So that’s the way it is.

Ann Marie

Sean

Benjamin

I started smoking like two years ago, and it’s mostly because of school and the stresses that I guess I have. But, I guess that’s why I started smoking more.

27. Because it feels good. That’s it.

I started smoking at the age of 14. I was fascinated how people inhale the smoke and blow it out their nostrils. I was always fascinated by it so I always tried it whenever I got a cigarette. So I used to sneak in my dad’s pack take a cigarette here and there and go in the bathroom open up the sunroof and smoke my cigarettes. And from then on, I was hooked.

Thomas

Gene

Sarah

I started smoking when I was 16. And I started to be cool.

About two years because I hung out at a lot of smoking bars.

I started smoking when I was 16. I started smoking because it was cool in high school. And Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m trying to quit. But I havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t done that yet.

Correy

Jen

Jeffery

I’ve been smoking for maybe like two and a half years. And I started smoking…it wasn’t like a forced thing to do. It just was something... maybe you see people smoking and then you just try it. Stress maybe. Stress would be affecting why people smoke, or why I smoke rather.

I am a smoker. And…only parttime smoker, sometimes, I know everyone says that. How long have I been smoking? I guess since I was 21 so five years. I started smoking because I was rolling on ecstasy and my friend had a cigarette and was like yo you want to smoke a cigarette. I was like yes; everything is so cool right now, let’s do that. And, the rest is history.

I started smoking I guess when I was 16, and I just did it because I guess the people around me did. The parents did. It seemed like a natural progression.

Greg

Gary

Blaine

I started smoking six years ago and I’m not really sure why.

I started smoking at seven. I’m 25. Just turned 25, and I started smoking…honestly…my uncle whose only seven years older than me, I used to smoke with him. So, that’s how I started smoking. I thought it was cool. And then I realized…I didn’t realize til I was ten, but my uncle made me realize till I was ten that I wasn’t inhaling. And so, when I was ten, he was like there go yo mom and I choked when I actually inhaled a cigarette. So I started inhaling at ten.

My name is Blaine. I’m 27 now, so I started smoking at about 19. Why I started smoking? Cause it was there. I guess I had a cigarette here and there. And now I’m a smoker and I do hate it. I do not like smoking and I tried to quit about five times. Last time was about five months and it’s just one of those things that you know gets in your head and takes over. So, I’m not a big fan of cigarettes or cigarette companies but I’m a slave to them.

Andre

Justin

Kevin

From South Philadelphia, Temple grad. I was a late bloomer probably around 19, 20, throughout the college years at Temple University and it picked up when I started working. When I started my first internship, just really to get out and take breaks. To get a smoke break with everyone else, then picked up when I was out drinking, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why I started smoking.

I started smoking about six and a half years ago cause my friends all did it so I decided to join the club. Now I regret it.

I started smoking when I was 15. I grew up in South Philly, I was hanging out on the corners and everybody who was older than me obviously smoked and I just picked up from there and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never been able to quit since.

Dan

Frank

Rebecca

I’m not a full-time smoker. Started smoking, Jesus Christ, 20 years ago, cause that’s how everyone got out of class. It was not a stress or addiction thing, it was more of a social acceptance thing and eventually I got to a point where I decided I shouldn’t be doing this anymore and I quit. Because it’s not healthy for me but I love smoking, the habit of smoking cigarettes, it’s all it was. So I quit smoking for two years and then I met a girl who smokes full-time and I got pulled back into the social smoking. 22

I started smoking three years ago when I was uhh, 18. Cause I started smoking weed and it went well, it just stuck.

I started smoking when I was 17 so, seven years ago. I started because, actually funny enough, the smell of it reminded me of my childhood. My pop pop always drank Bud and smoked Marlboro Reds, cowboy killers, and that’s what I started on. Yea, I tried to quit twice and I ended up eating like, you know, two packs of lollipops a day. Take diabetes now, cancer later maybe, I think I’ll take the cancer later.

Raseem

Joan

Miguel

I’ve been smoking for like ten years and why I’m smoking is I don’t know, a social thing.

You want the truth? When I was 13 as frustration because the boys in my neighborhood were sexually assaultive.

I started at 21; I’m 38 now and the reason, I don’t know. I guess I just started smoking cause I was in college, in grad school just writing papers until like three in the morning it just seemed like inspiration.

Christopher

Jesse

Michael

I started smoking about five years ago and I started because I am in the performing arts and most people will do that to you.

I guess I started eight years ago, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know why.

I guess I had my first cigarette about 18, 19. Almost 19 years ago and I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t why I started smoking. It was something to do.

Sarah

Carrie

Jake

My name is Sarah, I’ve been smoking since I was like 13, and so that’s about ten years. I started smoking because I grew up in a smoky house.

I started smoking two and a half years ago. Just because, I didn’t have a real reason, just sort of happened.

I’ve been smoking for eight years and I started because whenever my parents were stressed they’d say I want a cigarette and they’d feel better so one day I came home and I had a cigarette.

Dave

Richard

Eric

I started smoking cigars a couple months ago and I just got tattooed and wanted one to relax.

I’ve been smoking for probably 35 years and it was the mid 70’s and pretty much everybody did it, so I was kinda cool. I was 14 or 15 and started and haven’t quit since.

Why did I start smoking? To be with the cool kids, that’s why everyone starts isn’t it? I like smoking. I love smoking. You know what I mean? I could never see myself not smoking and I see the black lung fucking commercials and all the other bullshit, that does not dissuade me from smoking, does it dissuade you?

Rose

Aaron

Steve

I started smoking about eight years ago and, really stressed, thought it might help. Kinda does sometimes but sometimes I hate it.

I started smoking at 16 because I didn’t have any weed.

How old am I? 41ish, started smoking at 15, 16, and it makes me look cool. Makes me look older. I don’t know. I enjoy it. Now I’m just addicted that’s all.

Jersey

Tony

Nikki

I started smoking when I was 12. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know. I enjoy it.

I started smoking 15 years ago. I guess I thought it was cool and, been smoking ever since.

I started smoking when I was 14 and I started because one of my friends wanted to burn his wrists like Darby Crash from The Germs and we lit the cigarette and none of us smoked and nobody would puff on it to keep it lit so I was like, Fuck it, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll do it.

Hannah

Anthony

Brandy

I started smoking a year ago, last January and it was just a social thing.

I started smoking 27 years ago. Just because.

I started smoking ten years ago, because I was young and stupid.

Megan

Dwight

Deleon

I probably started smoking illegally when I was 16, I’m 19 now, so three years. I actually first started smoking…I dunno, because everyone else was doing it, to be completely honest.

How long have I been smoking? What’s this, 2011…I’d say, my senior year of college, I smoked after I smoked pot to increase my high, then after that it became a stress-reliever, we’ll say that, and something to do in between time.

I’ve been more of a social smoker, but, you know, I just smoke to kind of ease my mind, you know what I mean? It’s great with a beer, you know what I mean, and in good company. That’s pretty much why I smoke.

Jerry

Patrick

Nicole

I started smoking in 1958, just because everyone else was. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pretty much it.

I started probably about five or six years ago. No real reason for starting, but a bunch of my friends smoked, so I figured it was a good way to, you know, get out of the house during parties or whatever, get some fresh air.

I started smoking when I was 13 because I used to steal my parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; cigarettes.

James

Greg

Tomas

I started smoking four years ago ‘cause of Iraq, so…

I started smoking about seven years ago…and I stole a pack of my dad’s cigarettes and that’s how I started.

I thought it was a cool thing to do, I was 16 years old.

Orbie

Andrew

Leslie

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been smoking 15 years and I started smoking because, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even remember, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a long time ago. No idea.

I started smoking 20 years ago. I started smoking because it looks really cool.

I think I started smoking when I was, like, 15, and I actually quit for ten years, and now I just kinda smoke when I go away on vacation, whenever I drink.

Angel

Julie

Jerry

Uh, forever. You know what I’m saying? My grandfather smoked, he used to give me cigars. I smoked with my grandfather, and chewed tobacco. It’s a tradition, you know? Native.

I started smoking 22 years ago. Why I started smoking? Um…I dunno. I was 12!

Probably in my early teens, which would have been like 15 to 18 years ago, ‘cause I thought it was cool. Made me look cool and old. Distinguished. I mean, it just made me look distinguished, hanging outside the bank, holding my skateboard, looking cool. That’s what it was all about, I guess. And here I am thousands of dollars in the hole spent on cigarettes and addicted to ‘em. Yeah, hacking…it kinda blows. Wouldn’t recommend it. Don’t start!

Kevin

Eric

Cassandra

I started smoking like 15 years ago. I dunno, it was just kinda the thing to do, I suppose, you know, and now it’s kinda become stress-relief, so…

I started smoking about nine years ago – well, actually, a little over 12 years ago, actually. I just started smoking ‘cause my friend said, “Hey, smoke this cigarette!” and I was like “Oh, ok…” That’s pretty much it, you know?

I started smoking ten years ago, because I found my aunt’s cigarettes and thought they were cool.

John

Tracy

Rachel

I guess I started smoking when I was about 13, 14 and I’m about 38 now. I don’t know. Just started and never stopped, dude.

I started smoking when I was 13 and I started smoking because it was cool.

I started smoking when I was 13, I’m 20 years old now. I was a stupid teenager, honestly.

Christy

Victoria

Bash

I started smoking when I was, like, 12 years old ‘cause I thought it was cool and all the kids around me smoked, and I wanted to try it, and then I kept smoking, like, to be cool, and then I got, like, hooked. And I wish I never did.

I started smoking when I was 15, I’m 23 now. I just picked it up as a habit. That’s the only thing.

I started smoking many, many years ago, at least a decade plus. I actually started smoking ‘cause I was hanging around with people that were trying to get off of drugs and I didn’t do drugs. So I picked up their drug, which was smoking. So here I am.

Julianne

Alan

Jimbo

I started smoking when I was 14, and that was like six years ago. My parents smoked, my whole family smoked, so I just picked it up, basically. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about it!

Started smoking 20 something years ago because I was cool.

I started smoking about 16 years ago. I just wanted to, I like it. I like smoke better than air sometimes.

Kristy

Lauren

Laura

I started smoking when I was 17 I am 23 now. Just cause I like to smoke, that is the end of that.

My first cigarette I tried when I was 15 years old. It was basically because friends of mine were smokers and I hadn’t tried it before so I figured you know, why not try everything... My biggest issue is I get cravings when I see it around but when it is not around I don’t get cravings at all. I don’t even buy my own cigarettes.

I have tried to quit three times. I started when I was 13 and I honestly don’t know why. I guess to try it, I never thought I was addicted until I tried to quit and found out I was addicted.

Tattoo Night Owl

Peter

Rachel

I started smoking when I was about 15. I stopped and then I started and then I stopped and then I started and I stopped. Why did I start smoking? I wanted to be cool.

I have no idea, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know. Because it was cool, something to do.

I started smoking about seven years ago. I was bored, pretty much, I just started, I would take them from my mom and smoke in my room and then I just kept on smoking.

Hank

Jeremiah

Keith

I’m also known as Tattoo Hank the Clown. I started getting tattoo’s in 1984, I started smoking in 1979. My mom smoked five packs a day, I smoke about two I’m down to two packs, I was at four. It is one of my passions in life, tattoo’s and smoking.

I started smoking 14 years ago because I was on a road trip with my buddy. We were smoking Newport’s because that was the thing to do.

I have been smoking for about 12 years now and I started smoking because I thought it looked cool.

James

Young

Nicole

I started smoking the day after I got out of boarding school, 1969. I’ve been smoking a pipe for what, 40 odd years. I enjoy it.

I started smoking weed when I was 12 years old, I started smoking cigarettes around the same year. The reason why I started smoking I guess there was other people smoking around me so I was like yeah let me try it. Other than that I have been smoking, paid for like 10 something a pack up in New York and like a little less out in Jersey or whatever…

I started smoking 20 years ago because I was the only person who didn’t smoke in beauty school. I wanted to fit in, I guess.

Andrew

Morgan

Stephen

I started about six years ago. I was out drinking with some friends, bought a pack and really haven’t stopped since.

I have been smoking for about four years. I started smoking due to family issues I think. My grandmother passed away, my grandfather had a six way bypass a week later and then my father decided to tell everybody he was divorcing my mother the same week my grandmother passed away. That was in fifth grade. In sixth grade I started smoking my first cigarettes, stopped for a little while and then started smoking again right before high school. That’s why, no peer pressure.

I started smoking when I was 15, I am 35 now so that was 15 years ago. It seemed like the thing to do. We were drinking, having fun. My friend used to work at a 7-11, he was able to, it’s a pretty shitty story but he was able to steal cartons of cigarettes and he would kind of divide them out to everybody. It was a following deal, it wasn’t something of my own, I was kind of just following the friends, you know.

Chapter 2 Census data shows that, as of 2009, the city of Philadelphia has over 1.5 million people living in its limits. The city instituted a smoking ban in all restaurants and a majority of bars in January of 2007 as part of an initiative put forth to move Philadelphia in a

healthier

direction. According to the Department of Health, Philadelphia County had a smoking

prevalence of 29 percent in 2003 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the highest percentage in the state. In addition to that, from 2002 to 2003, it was estimated that there were 2,784 smoking-related deaths in Philadelphia out of the 16,600 deaths overall - smoking caused about 17 percent of all deaths.

Interestingly, Philadelphia has the lowest smokeless-tobacco usage rate in the entire

state, with usage hovering at one percent. So, strictly speaking, Philadelphia

is a

smokerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s city. Between 2006 and 2008, it was estimated that about 25 percent of Philadelphiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s adult population were smokers. Of the adults that smoked, 60 percent of them said that at one point they had tried kicking the habit. Also, in 2007, 13 percent of all live births in Philadelphia were by women who smoked during their pregnancy.

Beginning in 2008, Philadelphia instituted the Clean-Air Act. The Clean-Air Act states

that smoking in Philadelphia is now banned in all of the following places: food or beverage establishments, any school or educational facility, any city-owned or leased building or facility, any health care facility, in any workplace, in any vehicle of public transportation or in any fair-paid area of commuter rail or other transit stations or terminals of SEPTA, within 10 feet of any entrance to any enclosed area in which smoking is prohibited, and apartment buildings, condominiums and other multiple-unit residential facilities, among many others. 45

Frank

Cara

Dominic

16 at least. 50 years or more. Peer pressure.

I’ve been smoking cigarettes for about two years, and I started smoking cigarettes because... they taste good with coffee?

I started smoking at 15. I do it ‘cause it relieves stress and it helps me focus on my music sometimes, I’m a little stressed out from that too. I really just do it ‘cause it just helps me relax, it’s just something that I do. Just got addicted I guess.

Monique

Jordan

Amaury

I began at two. Second hand smoke, two, second hand smoke, they go together. I like my roses red and my diamonds blue. I keep a big dick like five times two. I be killin’ white girls every time I come through in a wide bodied coop like a drive by do.

I started because I started working in the restaurant business. I’ve been smoking for five years.

I’ve been smoking since I was, like, 15, pretty long time. Why I started smoking? I knew a lot of kids who smoked, I knew a lot of older kids who smoked, it was just one of those things that kind of just came up. I stopped for a bit, but then like sophomore year of college again I started it up again, so I don’t know, like, probably like total six years, five years of smoking, I guess. But I’m probably going to quit pretty soon, I’m thinking. So yeah.

Patrick

Arthur

Shawn

I’ve been smoking cigarettes for like two and a half, three years, been smoking since high school. I just started smoking when my friend used to get free packs and give me cigarettes and when I came to college it kind of skyrocketed a little bit.

I started smoking when I was about 15. I’m 53 years old, you’re talking back in the ‘70s. Peer pressure, the crowd. I wanted to fit in. I’ve also seen, honestly I’ve seen my mother smoke, and I wanted to try it. As I found out, there’s a consequence behind it. It’s not good, cause I stress out. That’s why I started smoking cause I get a little nervous, I start smoking a cigarette. So it’s really not compatible for my health, but at times it calms me down.

I started smoking seriously when I was in the 10th grade. I mean because it was in a lot of ways taboo culture said don’t, you can’t do this and it was, I was like 28 and I am from California and that was when California was starting to ban it everywhere. And it was kind of a fuck you to everybody, so that was why if I had to think about it... The government says this is a bad product and then it charges you a bunch of money for it and its bullshit.

Mikel

Nico

Linden

I started smoking when I was 18 mainly because of my friends, they all smoke. And it’s just been hard.

I started smoking probably when I was 15 because my parents smoked and they left cigarettes around the house and packs and it was an opportunity and I was young, I’m still young, I’m 22 now and I’ve been smoking since then.

I smoked maybe like once or twice in my teens, but I really didn’t start until around 35. Maybe ten. I really did it to kill time, really. But after awhile, it became enjoyable.

Jill

Josh

Andrew

I started smoking when I was 16. I’m a casual smoker so the cost of cigarettes doesn’t affect me too much.

I’ve been smoking since I was 14 I believe, so a good five years now. And I first started smoking… oh man, first reason why I started smoking… probably just because everyone else was. Girlfriend, same thing. And I’ve just been smoking since.

I started smoking when I was 15, I was in a band and everyone else in the band smoked and it kind of became a ritual that while we were having band practice, when we would take breaks, we would go outside, everyone would be smoking and eventually I just tried it and it became a ritual and it kind of just stayed with me.

Jim

Sam

Michael

18. About 20 years. It was fun.

I started regularly smoking in the 10th grade. And yeah the cost has affected me, I don’t know, my bank account used to have a lot more money in it and now I can’t afford to drink or do stuff that I like as much. I started smoking socially originally, then it just turned into a habit.

I started smoking when I was 15 years old and I’m 27, so that’s, you know, over the course of 12 years, but of that 12 I probably smoked for 10. You know, two were in between quitting periods. And I smoke because it’s something to do. I read a book that said people that smoke it’s because they need to be constantly doing something. And I always light up a cigarette like in the car in traffic, like times when I get antsy.

Michelle

Mitchell

Dan

I started smoking when I was 14. I started smoking because I’m a dancer and I’ve been smoking for four years.

At the age of 15. I was bored.

I’m 22, I’ve been smoking since I was 15 and the cost of cigarettes has made me smoke less.

Alex

Amy

Katrona

I’ve been smoking for the past seven years about two packs a day. A reason why I smoke is because I’m a very depressed person and it relaxes me. And it makes me look cool. A trend.

I started smoking the day after my 18th birthday. I started to do it socially and I’ve been smoking for about three years now.

I started smoking at 20. Pretty much the same reason, peer pressure.

Zach

Jeff

Anne-Marie

I started smoking about two and a half years ago because every time I would go out and drink I would smoke and then it just evolved into having five a day, to ten a day, to a full blow pack a day. And the cost hasn’t really affected the habit at all, I enjoy smoking so I buy cigarettes.

I started smoking when I was 16, so it’s about four years now. I don’t know why I started smoking really. I guess I felt like it and then I got addicted so that’s what happens.

I started smoking at the age of 17, just as a social kind of thing. I’ve been smoking for almost four years now but I would like to quit this year.

Jordan

Steven

John

I don’t know, I don’t really smoke that much. I don’t know I just like started one day because some people were outside, and they looked nice so I wanted to talk to them, but I had to smoke to talk to them.

I’ve been a smoker since probably the end of senior year of high school so relatively not as long as other people probably. But yeah pretty much it doesn’t affect me that financially but I am happy to say I don’t mind throwing five or six bucks down, I smoke about a pack every two days so I guess some people would be like you’re fucking crazy but I enjoy it so I don’t mind spending.

I started smoking about two years ago, and I am smoking a pipe right now with cherry tobacco. I started smoking just because I kind of like the smell. Probably just something a little bit different that still has the nicotine.

Teddy

Lauren

Vincent

I started smoking when I was 18 years old when I came to college. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been smoking for probably seven months now and I started smoking because my friends smoke and they got me into it.

Freshman, what are you when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a freshman? 15, I guess? Like four. Somebody had a cigarette and I tried it, and I liked it.

Alright I started smoking, I went, I got into a writing program out in Iowa, in the Iowa Young Writers Workshop thing and all the kids there were young proto-hipsters from around the country and they all smoked so I picked it up, kinda just copied off them, I guess I was 16 and I am 22 now, no 17 and I am 22 now.

Stephy

Riley

Joanna

I’ve been smoking since I was 17. How long? Well since I was 17 I’m 21 years old right now. Why I started smoking? I guess I started smoking pretty much because everyone else was. And then I kind of was the one that continued and I still am, not when I’m drunk, so… yeah.

I started smoking when I was 16 so I’ve been smoking for four years.

All my life since 21. Boredom, and I was sitting in the cafeteria between classes, and when I was tired of sitting in the library tired of studying I would hang out with my friends and they were smoking so we would smoke.

Alex

James

Ryan

I started smoking when I was 14 because my parents did, and it was fun.

13. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m 56 so since I was 40 something years old, I guess. Peer pressure.

First cigarette was when I was 19 years old. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m 24 now, I smoke anywhere from a pack, to a pack and a half a day.

Anthony

Robert

Jessica

I started smoking probably when I was like 18 or 19, and I’m 21 now so it’s like two, three years. And I started smoking because, I don’t know, I guess it was something to do after I finished blazing, you know? And it goes well with drinking among other things… and it looks cool! So, you know…

Since 18. I would probably say around a good 15, 16 years. I didn’t really start it, it was kind of my mom’s fault because she, probably gonna be ashamed to say this, but my mama, my mother went in asked me to light her cigarette in the stove and I ended up lighting it, and I took a puff of it and it kind of felt weird. It was after that I didn’t smoke for like, I didn’t start until I was 18. That’s when it was starting to kick in.

I smoked my first cigarette when I was 19, been a smoker since I was 19.

Paul

Ben

Joe

I started smoking my junior year of high school and I smoked for like four years until I read this book, don’t remember the name or the title, but that was about a year ago. I hadn’t smoked until I walked out of class today and some girl blew smoke in my face.

What age did I start smoking? What are we talking about? Cigarettes? 15. Five. Honestly? Cause I heard that after you smoke weed, if you smoke a cigarette it gets you higher. That’s why.

First cigarette, 13 years old. I’ve been smoking for 28 years.

Matt

Crispen

Lisa

I started smoking at 13 because it was the cool thing to do. I am now 26, so Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been smoking for close to 13 years.

Because I wanted to be cool. What age did I have my first cigarette or what age did I start smoking? I had my first cigarette when my babysitter gave it to me when I was about ten and then I hated it. I used to throw my parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; cigarettes away and then I was probably about a freshman in high school and I started smoking cigarettes.

I smoked for too long, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know how long but too long. I think I was maybe, 14.

Vichal

John

Martin

I started smoking when I was 16 just randomly with friends, you know? And then it became a habit. Other than that, nothing else.

I have quit several times so it’s hard to say. I’d say overall 15 years. I worked in the restaurant business and it was the only way I could get a break.

My first cigarette, I’d say about...37 years ago, I’ve been smoking for about that.

Aniket

Earl

Alexia

I started smoking like four years ago, and I started smoking because of [Vichal], because of good company, and too much stress.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m 16. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even know. I guess peer pressure.

Age 19. I started smoking when I was 15 because I was around a lot of people who did.

Justin

George

Jillian

I started smoking when I was a sophomore in high school I guess, so six years. I started smoking I guess, because, you know, the stupid thing, you thought it was the cool thing to do. Started out with just a couple here and there, and it turned into probably the worst habit I’ll ever have. So yeah… trying to quit.

Well I quit for 15 years, I started back up, I guess I would say I’ve been smoking for about ten. Divorce.

My first cigarette was when I was 15. I’ve been smoking regularly since I was 17 and I just started smoking electric cigarettes two weeks ago. I went from a pack and a half a day to having a pack of cigarettes for five days.

Pat

Gerri

Louis

I started smoking I guess freshman year and it’s because I smoked too much when I went drinking and then I just started smoking all the time. So I’ve been smoking for three years now.

I started smoking when I was a teenager around 16, 17. Cause I saw everyone else do it, and the people in my family also did it, and you just pick up habits. That’s what you do.

I’ve been smoking since I was nine years old I ain’t never stopped yet. I’m 37 and I smoke two packs a day.

Camillo

Ann-Marie

Cindy

I started smoking last year around spring. I started smoking because of my friend. I thought it was just like, once and done and… that’s it.

When I was 17. About five years. I don’t know. All my friends smoked, so I just kind of started because they all smoked I guess.

High school, I’m 45, you do the math. 16-17 to 45.

Ethan

Jessie

Natine

I’ve been smoking for about a year now. I guess I started because they were just available, you know? You just start smoking because everyone’s got it, and you start smoking.

19, 20, I guess. Two and a half, three? That’s a good question, I don’t know, it’s relaxing when you’re real stressed out, and it helps you go to sleep.

I’m now 25. So about ten years.

Nick

Charlie

Joey

I started smoking maybe a year ago. It’s more of a social thing for me, and that’s basically it.

19. About a year. Because I work in retail, and it was Christmas time.

I actually started smoking after high school, tried it a couple times but it’s you know it’s something good to have with some coffee and I’m really a social smoker, but when I walk around I like to smoke occasionally.

Jackie

Josh

Atlas

I started smoking when I was 14 and I stuck with it for the first time because I never coughed. And now itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a part of my life.

Uh, 17. What is it, two years now? I guess I had friends and family that smoked and I just did it.

I started smoking three years ago when I was 18, so three years.

Laura

Richard

Adam

I started smoking when I was 16, so I’ve been smoking for ten years. Um… stress. And that’s about it… and I’m quitting!

16, 72 years.

My first cigarette was in 1984. Why did I start? Because I thought it was cool, it was totally the wrong reason. Actually, I’ll tell you the reason – I started smoking cigarettes probably because I watched my mother smoke cigarettes her whole life, and they were easily available in the kitchen drawer.I’m happily married with a wonderful six year old who drives me to drink, so if I gotta give up cigarettes or drinking. I think I’m gonna give up drinking.

Allan

Mark

Aiden

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m 20 years old, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been smoking for three years, and I started smoking when I was partying.

First cigarette was when I was 14, it was a menthol, which made me turned off to smoking. Then I had a Camel Red when I was a little bit older, been smoking for three years now. Just invested in a pipe because of tough economic times, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cheaper, and my granddad smoked one. He was probably the coolest guy I ever met.

I started smoking over the summer, when I was drinking. It depends on the day, but I probably smoke around two packs a week.

Marcelino

Heather

Andrea

I started smoking at 17, and I started smoking because I was experimental when I was younger.

I started smoking when I was 13 years old. Me and my friend both tried it and we wound up smoking ever since.

I started smoking when I was 16; Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m 22 now.

Allison

Kenneth

Anne

18… 13, because of my parents, that’s why I started smoking.

I started smoking at the age of 18. The reason why I smoke is it calms me down, it’s like a relaxation for me and plus stress too, like stress made me pick it up too. It’s like a soother.

When I started? 18. So, a couple years ago. And I don’t know why I started. I think it was kind of a lot of my friends did. It was, I could buy smokes when I was 18 sort of so I just went and tried it and got hooked.

Steve

Dennis

Brad

I started smoking when I was a freshman in college, like, full time smoking, like buying packs of cigarettes, freshman in college, just because I was kind of stressed out at the time. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know, I had a lot going on. Just figured I needed a little time to think every now and then I guess?

16, cause I was stupid.

I started when I was a senior, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been smoking maybe four or five years.

Mary

Mark

Bryan

I’m 25 years old. I started smoking when I was 17. I quit smoking for two years when I was 20 I think.

I started smoking when I was probably 15, just something to do I guess.

I’ve been smoking for about four years, I’m 21 right now, I was 18 when I started.

Chapter 3

Although many people are aware of the health risks of cigarette smoking, the statistics

don’t stop the millions of people who light up daily. According to the American Lung Association, every day, nearly 3,600 adolescents pick up their first cigarette, never realizing they may be starting a long-term

habit.

“Thought I would smoke only one pack, bought a carton, thought it would be my last

carton, and here I am 35 years later,” said Gail, a Philadelphia smoker who picked up the habit at the age of 28.

While smoking can begin at any age, according to Health Information Publications, a

branch of the American Heart Association, 80

percent of adult smokers started before

the age of 18. Cigarettes are easily accessible, relatively low-priced and legal – making tobacco a popular drug among children and teenagers.

years old and go in the store and get a pack of cigarettes,” said Linda, a Philadelphia smoker who has been smoking for over 30 years. “They didn’t ask for your parent, but today you have to be 18 or older to buy a

“When I was a kid you could be eight

pack of cigarettes.”

Reports also show that those who start smoking young are more likely to have an addiction to nicotine than people who start smoking later in life. Gabriel Rivera started smoking at the age of 27 and claims that he only has the urge to smoke when

is out drinking with friends. 78

“I just was never really into it until about nine months ago, like, mid-summer time,” said

Rivera. “During the day I have no urge to smoke, but when I drink, I do.” No matter what age, people make a choice to pick up their first cigarette. There

are

infinite reasons why someone would choose to start smoking despite the adverse health effects related to the issue, as any smoker could tell you.

“I began smoking because when I would drink, I would smoke. Then it became more of a

regular thing when the stress

got too high,” said Steve Walsh, a 23-year-old smoker.

Another reason someone might start smoking is that they grew

up around

smokers. These influencers tend to be role models, family members, or close friends.

Justin Fowley is 22 and started smoking during his freshman year of high school. The lead singer of Fowley’s band was a smoker and he would provide cigarettes to him until he was of age. “One day, I just kind of went out while he was on a cigarette break and I was like, ‘Hey, give me one of those.’” However, some smokers continue to smoke because they simply enjoy Joann McGettigan is 54 and has been smoking for pleasure for about 35 years.

it.

“The only reason I smoke is because I love to do it,” she said. “The whole health thing, I know they are not good for you, I don’t care, I really don’t care.”

Jenny

Ralph

Dana

I’m 21 years old. I first started smoking when I was 14. Kind of like a peer pressure thing. But then like, the more you smoke, the more I smoke, the more I got addicted. I tried to quit, but it’s hard to do it like all at once, so I’m trying to do it slowly, but I don’t know if it’s going to work or not. It is kind of expensive, so I try to like cut back whenever I can, but sometimes it’s just like the urge is too strong, so I just end up buying a pack. Like, each pack is like six dollars, so that really adds up.

I’m 57 years old and I started when I was 13. Cause I wanted to smoke.

I’m a senior at Temple, I started smoking when I was 17.

Renal

Ernie

David

I’m from Haiti. I started smoking six months ago. I just started, and the reason why I started was because of influence I can say. Because my girlfriend smokes and by being with her for so long, I got to smoke a little bit with her and now I think I’m a smoker. I thought it would be easy to quit easily because I never thought I would smoke like that, but it’s not that easy. School also is very stressful now for me, and that really gives me more motivation to keep smoking. Smoking is bad, but a lot of other things are bad, too.

I started back when I was 14 and the reason I started was because my cousin was smoking who was about my age and I just wanted to try it.

I started when I was 13, and I’m 53.

Norma

Freddy

Drew

I’m 44 years of age. I started smoking at the age of 17, and my reason for smoking is peer pressure. So other than that, it’s just a habit I picked up. I can’t seem to let it go. I do want to stop though, there’s no doubt about it. I do, I clearly remember my first cigarette. It was actually in the month of October back in like ’86, and I was with my best friend and her friend and they were smoking. Of course they were doing a little bit more than just smoking a cigarette. It hasn’t stopped since.

I started when I was like, ten, about 21 years ago. To be cool.

I’m a freshman at Temple, I’m 18 years old. I started smoking when I was 16, so like two years ago. I started smoking because I was a gas attendant at Sunoco and that was the only thing to do.

Matt

Catherine

Eileen

I think I’m… I’m 22. I’ve been smoking… I guess when I officially started smoking was actually in Japan because of how cheap it was. And I continued now. I think eventually the cost is really going to affect it. It should be my number one thing, but I don’t buy that much food: I buy a lot of cigarettes. So my budget goes to cigarettes and all of these really unhealthy things.

I was like 13 and I don’t know why I started. Just kinda did.

I started smoking 35 years ago. It was just the in thing to do back then.

Dennis

Judith

Emma

I’m 20 years old. I started smoking, I go to Temple, and I started smoking a year ago. The reason why I was smoking is this girl at the time who I was with smoked a lot, so it was kind of weird if I didn’t smoke with her, so I just, I picked one up and then I started smoking. It’s been going on for about a year like I said. And like, I haven’t tried quitting. To be honest, I like smoking now, but like the cigarettes are kind of expensive, so I kind of have to like spread them out or at least bum sometimes.

I was 16. Peer Pressure.

I started when I was 17. We don’t have these anymore, but I found one of those cigarette dispenser machines, at my friend and I’s favorite pizza shop, they had one of those. And I’m 20.

Kat

Allen

Faith

I’m 18. I’ve been smoking for a year and a half. I started because I was drunk. It’s way too expensive. I don’t have any money anymore. I’ve tried to quit at least… 20 times and it just doesn’t happen.

I started, like two years ago, because of all the drama in my family and everything. It calmed my nerves down.

I probably started smoking my senior year. I started smoking when I was drinking, and it just...I smoke about two packs a week.

Gabrielle

David

Gijo

I am 20 years old right now. I started smoking when I was 17. And I started smoking because the girl that I was best friends with, every single member of her family started smoking so it was kind of available, so I grabbed it.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been smoking since Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been 16 or 17. I had a heart attack in â&#x20AC;&#x2122;96 and I stopped for five years and I was playing cards one night, somebody blew smoke across the table, I got a whiff of it and I started smoking again.

When I was 18. And why did I start smoking. Um, I really had nothing to do at the time, so I was like just experimenting and it kinda caught on.

Anthony

Kristen

Jack

I started smoking when I was 17, so for about four years. I don’t know, I guess I started because of my friends.

I was 14 and I don’t know guess to be cool, I don’t know.

I started smoking when I was 17. Now I’m 32. I started because of frustration, I guess.

Chris

Dana

Jade

I started smoking when I was 18, I started smoking when I was in Greece, because when you’re in Europe it’s kind of the common thing to do over there, while in America it’s kind of frowned upon.

About two years I think, 17, I don’t know all my friends were doing it. It helped me when I was really stressed out, I just like to smoke when I’m stressed.

I started smoking after I graduated high school. And, yeah, my friend was smoker they said like smoking is good for the stress so that’s why I started smoke. It’s been like seven years already. I’m trying to quit but you know stress makes me smoke a lot, so that’s why I’m smoking. But yeah, I’m yeah going to quit soon cause my health is getting bad I’m feeling so yeah, I definitely know smoking is bad for the health.

Jacob

Garrett

Jesse

I smoke because I enjoy it. I started my freshman year of high school, and then I quit for three years. I started up again senior year of high school.

I started a very long time ago but I started about a week ago again. Personal issues that made it seem like a good idea.

I started when I was 17, while I was drinking.

Claude

Jeremy

Jason

Probably about, I say, maybe like six years ago. Why was I smoking cigarettes? I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know I think cause I be stressed out, sometimes, tired.

Three years, I was depressed.

I started in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;95, it was college. I went to college in the states, and it seemed to be the thing to do.

Kelly

Michael

Julia

I started, I had my first cigarette freshman year. I was by myself, it was an African cigarette, that was really cool. And then the stress of school really got to me, and I became addicted...and I don’t necessarily like that...but I don’t not like it either. And...here I am.

18, 30 years, peer pressure.

I started smoking my sophomore year of high school, because my friends smoked. It wasn’t really peer pressure, I just wanted to do it. At home I don’t smoke as much, but here I smoke close to a pack a day.

Theresa

Andrew

Jeff

I started smoking when I was 16, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m 23 now, so seven years. I started smoking because my friend offered me a cigarette when I was 16, and I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think it would be an issue. And I just continued to smoke, and when I got to school it just became a stress relief.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m 21 and I started smoking when I was 16, because my friends all started smoking and I just tried it with them and I kind of got addicted.

When I was 25, I started smoking because my ex-girlfriend was a heavy smoker. I smoke half a pack a day.

Alex

Samantha

Kate

I started when I was 16, 17. I’m 24 now. I’d like to quit this year. And why I started was I wanted to hook up with a girl. Yeah...bad, bad situation...

1998, I was 18, because I was high. You wanted an honest answer!

I’ve been smoking for three years, I started smoking because I wanted to get a break at work, and they only give smokers breaks. And I probably smoke about a pack a week.

Kaitlin

Erik

Kosh

I started smoking, God, my sophomore year here, so it was close to four years now. I don’t know, I was stressed out one day, and my friend was like, have a cigarette!, and I was like, ok!. And then I started associating that with stress, and now I can’t break it.

Freshman year of college because my roommate was smoking, I was 18.

I started smoking when I was 13 and I started because I’m a European. It’s just customary in most of Europe to smoke.

Nina

Louis

25, probably two, three years.

Two years now, 19, I don’t really know, I don’t know I just sorta wanted something to do. I wanted a vice.

I started smoking when I was about 12 years old and I’m 40-something now so it’s been a long time. And I guess I started doing it just because it was cool and everybody else was doing it.

Eric

Nick

Luke

I started smoking when I was 16. Just out of curiosity. Uh, this guy I knew in high school gave me some cigarettes and I thought I’d give them a try, and I liked ‘em. Uh, yeah, so I’ve been smoking for about eight years now, seven years now, and I hope I quit soon.

8th grade, probably like 16 or 17. I start off not even inhaling around freshman yearish and it became an addiction to alleviate stress.

I started smoking a year ago. And I started smoking because I enjoy the taste of a cig.

John Paul

Sarah

Michael

I’m 23. I started smoking when I was 18. I didn’t start smoking until my second semester of college when my parents broke up. I didn’t want to start drinking so I started smoking.

Since I was 17 so that would be 13 years...because my friends in high school started smoking... I wish I could enjoy it leisurely instead of smoking on a regular basis.

I’ve been smoking since I was 13, I’m 46 now, and I just smoke for the pleasure. It makes me feel good, like I be depressed, I take a smoke. I smoke a pack a day.

Kevin

James

Nadine

I was born in Delran, New Jersey in 1986. I went to the University of Delaware and that’s when things went to shit. I started smoking cigars out on the front porch at college. I started smoking cigars while golfing. I started smoking cigars while I went to strip clubs. I had a bunch of friends that smoked cigarettes. When I was drunk, had a couple of those. A lot of that goes on and I, I haven’t stopped. I don’t really foresee doing it. What else am I going to do with my life? Might as well just smoke.

I started smoking when I was about 13. I had an older brother that smoked.

I’ve been smoking for three and a half years, I started because everyone at my work smoked.

Scott

Vanessa

Ned

I started smoking when I was 14 and the reason why I started was to fit in with all my friends. And it was the thing we did when we would drink.

I started smoking my sophomore year of college. Probably because I lived with a bunch of roommates who were chain smokers and smoked in the house. It was casual for a while and then it became a habit. Stress. School.

I started smoking, I think it was last summer. And it was just, I just do it as a recreation. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not addicted to it, but I just do it whenever I want to.

Holly

Anel

Pat

I started smoking when I was 16 because my older brother smoked. Um, I’m 25 now so, eight years.

I’m 32 years old, I’ll be 33 tomorrow. And I started smoking when I was about 20. Basic stress of daily operations of jobs, kids, family, things of that naturenothing major.

I’m 18, I’m a freshman. I’ve been smoking cigarettes about two years, since I was about 16 or 17. And I don’t really know the reason why, I just kind of got into it.

100

Mike

Rob

Roman

I’ve been smoking for about three years. I started when I was 18. I started for stress relief and just kind of never stopped.

I’m 23. I don’t really know how long I’ve been smoking. Probably since sophomore year of high school, so its at least six or seven years now. Actually I was the last one of my group of friends to start smoking and the one time I smoked one and it felt awesome. That’s what got me hooked.

I started when I was 13, 14. I kind of only smoke when I’m drunk. So it’s been like four or five years.

101

Rob

Chester

Pete

I am 23 years old and I started smoking when I was 20 years old and a junior in college. I started smoking because my friends were and I tried it once and it was kind of all right and then it was kind of a relaxer.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been a smoker since 16 years old. I started smoking because I was drunk and I was trying to level that out and I still enjoy smoking.

I started smoking 14-15, so Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been smoking for 16, 15-16 years. And was a stupid idea to start and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m probably going to quit this summer.

102

Mat

Josh

Sam

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m 28 years old and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been smoking since I was 14 and I started because I guess it was just a group of friends, ya know, something to do after school. Started sneaking one here and there from dad and never stopped. Never turned back.

18, truthfully? Pot.

I started smoking when I was 14, I thought I was being cool. I smoke almost a pack a day.

103

David

Jade

Stephanie

I’ve been smoking since I was 16 years old, so for the past 20 years. You know, I started smoking when I was in high school. There’s a lot of pressure to fit in.

I started smoking when I was 16, and why I started smoking was because my best friend was doing it. I’ve been smoking for six years now.

I’ve been smoking since I was 16, so about two years. I started smoking because I guess all my friends started smoking, so it was just around and it was easy. I probably smoke a pack a week.

104

Fahad

Ian

Viraj

I’ve been smoking for two years. I started when I was 17 because I just wanted to.

I started smoking maybe eight months ago. I started because I stopped doing another drug.

I’m an international student. First time in the U.S. and I started smoking back in India when I was around 15, because my girlfriend who was 17 was smoking. So I would smoke when I was with her and then I started smoking after meals and then after that I just got into the habit of it which is, it’s not good. But, yeah, I’m trying to tone down a bit. Hopefully I should stop in a year or so.

105

Matt

Rob

Tim

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been smoking since I was 17, so for the past three years. Everyone I worked with smoked. One day I fell asleep in the break room and someone told me that smoking would keep me awake. They were right.

Age 19 and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m 51 now. Peer pressure. I started with the cigarettes for the peer pressure, I got rid of those. I smoke the cigars now because I enjoy the flavor and not the chemical reactions of the cigarettes.

I started when I got out of college, I guess because of stress.

106

Jess

Jason

Madison

I’ve been smoking since I was 17 so for the past four years. I started because internally I’ve always felt like I would be a smoker.

I started smoking when I was 15 years old. I’ve been smoking for 20 years, and I started smoking because I watched my grandparents smoke. And they died of lung cancer 15 years apart.

I started smoking when I was 14, and I started smoking because I was a stressed kid and my dad always had cigarettes around the house, so I would steal ‘em one by one and smoke in my room and it was stress-relieving. And then, boop boop boop, I got addicted.

107

Chapter 4

The ages of 16, 18, and 21 have long been considered milestones where young people take a step closer to adulthood. Whether it’s driving a car, smoking cigarettes, or being able to purchase alcohol, each of these ages grant young adults more responsibilities. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance study from 2009, about 7.4 percent of teenagers under the age of 18 smoke cigarettes daily. According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, “Each day, about 4,000 kids in the United States try their first cigarette and an additional 1,000 kids under 18 years of age become new regular, daily smokers. That’s 400,000 new underage daily smokers in this country each year.” 90 percent of adult smokers begin in the teens. The U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that six million children that are currently alive will ultimately die from smoking. Eventually, children will develop long-term habits and are more likely to die from a tobacco-related condition prematurely. Effects of underage smoking include respiratory problems, gum disease, emphysema, increased headaches, shortness of breath, reduced immune function, and even pre-cancerous gene mutations. Individuals who start smoking before

the age of 21 tend to have more

difficulty quitting, than others who try cigarettes much later in life.

The Food and Drug Administration will enforce a ban on underage cigarette sales by means of state grants. Danny McGoldrick, the vice president of research at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a leading organization in the fight to reduce tobacco use, believes that the overall best strategy to

help with underage smoking would be to

increase the prices of cigarettes. 108

109

Bezhad

Ron

Mike

I have been smoking since I was 18 years old. I am still a smoker nine years later. I started smoking because everyone in my group of friends was and I wanted to fit in.

I started smoking when I was 18. I’ve been smoking for 20 years, about five/six cigarettes a day. I do it because I enjoy it. It’s not a habit, I don’t need one in the morning, I enjoy it on the way home from work.

I started smoking when I was 14, 15 years old. And, because my parents smoked, I had access to cigarettes, and kind of liked the taste, so…it stuck.

110

John

Justin

Kelsey

I’ve been smoking for four years I think. And uh, I started because I was dating a girl and she smoked and whenever we would go on, walking her dog um, she would have a cigarette and I thought she was really cool and that’s pretty much it.

I started smoking when I was 15. I’ve been smoking for 15 years. I started smoking because my friend did it.

Well, I started smoking, I guess…a few months ago, mainly. ‘Cause I used to try but I didn’t inhale right, and then I started smoking a few months ago ‘cause I live with smokers and they influenced me. No, I’m kidding, they really didn’t – well, they kinda did, but it kinda helps. ‘Cause I get stressed, and I’m like, I need a cigarette. Shit. So, I smoke, and it’s cool.

111

Meredith

Ryan

Chase

I guess I’ve been smoking on and off for like six years or so. It was probably the worst when I was like, when I was a freshman here at Tyler ‘cause everyone was smoking all the time and I wanted to be really cool too. And then I quit for like a year and I didn’t have to smoke at all and then I went to Rome and starting smoking because they make it look really cool too.

I’m 25, I started smoking at about 20. It started when I was at Temple actually, as a way to meet people in front of the dorms.

I smoked my first cigarette when I was 11, but I didn’t start smoking regularly until I was 16. Like, buying packs of cigarettes and smoking them regularly. I started smoking…honestly, because at the time I thought it was cool to smoke, but after smoking for an extended period of time, I am addicted and have to smoke.

112

Aaron

Steve

Eddie

I was about 15, ten years. I tried it because I was curious but I really started smoking heavily because my parents encouraged me to smoke cigarettes over marijuana. They bought me cigarettes in the hopes that I would choose that over weed. Now I smoke both. I’m very A.D.D. You know a mild stimulant helps in terms of that. It’s become a sort of crutch I use to take my mind off the goings on.

I started smoking because I’m a very neurotic individual and I had to stave off that neuroticism somehow. So I decided to light up one of these delightful tobacco cigarettes. Oh, I was probably about 18 when I started to smoke.

I started smoking a year ago because friends would be like, have a cigarette, at a party. And I’d be like, okay. Then I wound up buying packs and now I’m smoking things, and it sucks!

113

Arianna

John

Jess

I first smoked a cigarette when I was 16. And I smoked two in a row and threw up and it was a horrible experience. I started regularly smoking cigarettes last May, at the age of 21. I think I started smoking because my older and younger sister smoked so it was around me and I guess really admired both of them so wanted to try that and it took a long time to incorporate into my life because I hated it at first, but I kept doing it, and thenâ&#x20AC;Ś

22, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m 23 now. I started smoking cigars when I was 22. It was a social thing I do every couple months with a good group of friends.

I started smoking at 16. I started when I was, like, partying, socially, and then it became a habit.

114

Barry

Eleanor

Darnell

I’ve been smoking since oh, hmm. Probably about 15 years. No particular reason, I don’t know. Just started up and been smoking ever since.

I started smoking when I was 17. I am from Italy so everyone starts smoking when you are 14 and all. I don’t know, there’s no reason, not to be cool. I actually was hiding it for the first year and then I just started smoking. I smoke about one, two cigarettes a day. So usually when I am done with the day, or done with dinner then done with lunch. Not in the morning or nothing like that.

I started smoking at the tender age of 14. I started smoking, partly due to being a secondhand smoker. My family members used to smoke around me all the time and it was just a habit I picked up from them.

115

Bill

David

Claire

1982 I think I started smoking, ‘83 maybe. Been smoking for thirty years, and I love it. It’s fun, and in ten years they’re gonna have a cure for lung cancer anyways, right? It’s not gonna matter.

I was about 12 years old at my cousin’s. [Been smoking] about 40 years.

I started smoking when I was 16 and I kinda go on and off. These past few years a lot, and I guess I started smoking…probably because I thought I was cool. And I wasn’t a bad kid at all, but smoking cigarettes was so much easier to get cigarettes than alcohol or anything.

116

Chris

Eric

Carrie

I have been smoking since I was 12 years old. Uh, I’ve been smoking for almost 14 years and I started because it looked cool, I wanted to fit in.

Wow, that was about 17 years ago. It was a mistake picking up cigarettes from the ashtray and smoking it. And it was the biggest mistake I ever did because today I feel it. I’m older and I feel it like I can barely do what I used to do back in the days, maybe just a couple years back. Long time I’ve been smoking. It’s no good and if I could stop myself, I will stop, but with the work I do it’s frustrating. It’s like a bad habit that I just keep smoking and smoking. And I can’t let it go.

I started smoking cigarettes when I was 13. I started smoking heavily when I was 16, I just thought it was cool. My friends were doing it and it was easy to get because I had older friends, and I just started and then evolved into a smoker.

117

Danielle

Mike

Lucas

When I was 13. Um, I’m 25 so 12 years. I don’t know, in all honesty.

My first cigarette gagged me. I was like six years old. I didn’t start smoking regularly ‘til about 13. Then I quit and I picked back up like a dummy and it’s been hard to quit since. Should have listened to my body then because it’s not a healthy habit. Like they said in the commercial, best tip yet, don’t start.

18, it was enjoyable.

118

Danielle

Jesse

Bianca

I started really picking it up in I think freshman year of college. Probably about 17, 16 maybe. Uh, seriously smoking for probably eight years. It was right around the time I was starting to smoke a lot of pot and drinking, so I think I was just getting into self-destructive mode and probably a little bit of peer pressure. It sucks, I wish I could quit.

My first cigarette when I was 12 years old. It was a Marlboro, no, a Camel, Camel cigarettes. Right now I’m trying to stop but every time I get stressed out I start smoking. The only time I really don’t smoke my cigarettes like this if I’m locked up, incarcerated. You don’t smoke that much up in there. But other than that I’ve been trying to stop smoking but I battle like it’s just like weed.

I started smoking, like, a year ago, maybe…and my friends are smokers, so they kinda got me into it, but it just kind of relieved a lot of stress I was under at that time, and I just never stopped. I don’t smoke, a lot, but just here and there now, but usually…not too much. Sometimes…midterms, now, I’m a little stressed out with that, but…

119

Donna

Paula

Steve

I’m 35 plus. I was getting beat up at school, I was stealing my parent’s cigarettes, it made me cool with the kids at school, people started to like me. I can no longer talk because of it. My husband’s dying, I still can’t put them down. The doctors are saying, don’t stop now cause you’re gonna need it through this. My husband quit, right when he got sick. Unfortunately I won’t join him. So whatever you gotta do, take as many pictures as you want of this misery. Stop everybody else from smoking.

My first cigarette was at 12 years old. I started in the school bathrooms. Well, I started smoking with my friends. I tasted the first cigarette or whatever and I liked it and I kept doing it. And I’m 25 year old now and I’m still smoking. I smoke like two packs a day.

How long ago I started smoking? Let’s see…15 years ago, I guess. It’s enjoyable, I guess, and it passes time…and it’s addictive, you know? And it also increases dopaminergic function, and increases limbic function, and hippocampal response.

120

David

Donald

Derek

I started in college. That was 24 years ago, over the years it’s been off and on. I didn’t when I was married, then when I got a divorce I started again. And then I quit. Then my uncle died and I started again, it’s obviously stress induced. I help people with incurable diseases. Mostly overseas with treatments that are not allowed in the U.S. People ask me how can I smoke if I deal with that my peppy response is I’m the only one who should smoke cause I know where I can get it treated. Yeah I’m clever.

I’ve been smoking probably like, probably like 40 years. If I don’t get a cigarette in the morning, I’ll be hyped. As soon as I smoke a cigarette I’m relaxed, you know. Forty years. Then with the cancer, I don’t even care about the cancer. I’m still going to keep smoking. I guess I’ll just smoke ‘til the day I die.

I’ve been smoking on and off for probably four or five years and I smoke because…really good question. It’s really nice after work and when I’m driving, and when I’m drunk, and after I’ve eaten a really good meal, and…did I mention when I’m drinking? Then yeah, that’s probably about my answer.

121

George

Karronne

Kelli

First time I started, I had my first cigarette I was 11. I started when I think I was 13. I was always around it growing up, both my parents smoked, my grandfather smoked. Um, you know all my friends started smoking and they were like the older kids in the neighborhood. I was the young blood trying to I guess be cool so I could steal them cigarettes from my dad’s carton and my dad wouldn’t notice, they’d smoke, and I just kinda joined in. And I was addicted.

I started smoking when I was 14. And the reason why I’m smoking is because of peer pressure. It’s not a good thing. I don’t think it’s a good thing. I wish I could quit. I’m trying to quit. And for anybody that don’t smoke I advise you not to smoke ‘cause it is not good. It takes all your money. And it’s a lot. And don’t follow what your friends do. Just do your own thing. Just do you.

I was a social smoker, and then I started working in a restaurant. So, then it became more habit, and now I am a full-fledged smoker. So I haven’t been a full-fledged, like addicted smoker since probably like…probably been about three years on that, on like the full-fledge smoker. But I guess I’ve been socially smoking since I was 15.

122

Jack

Steve

Ethan

I was about 13 years old, I’m 60 now. I actually quit a couple times. I don’t know if I’m using this as an excuse, but, there were some things in my, my family life that contributed to me going back. What happened was my mom had fell, she was recuperating in her house. I had to be up with her, whenever she needed to get up in the middle of the night, whatever. At two O’clock one morning I just said thats it. I just went out back and started up again.

Peer pressure.

Actually this is the epiphany of peer pressure. This is not why I started, but my first cigarette I was smoking outside...I was outside my high school with a…not a friend, some peer of mine much taller than me who told me that if I didn’t take drag of his Newport he was going to punch me in the face…14, so six years ago.

123

Jeremy

Ronnette

Nick

I started smoking when I was 18, so that was four years ago, I’m 22 now. Uh, and I started smoking because um, a lot of people around where I worked were smoking and that’s pretty much it.

Smoking is not good for anyone. But I’m smoking because I’m upset. That’s the only reason why I smoke. And that’s not a good reason, but I don’t drink or use drugs so I use the cigarette to calm my nerves. And I don’t smoke that often, but I’m smoking now.

Somebody said I looked cool and then I just didn’t stop. Uh 18. What’s it now… like a year and a half…two years? I don’t know.

124

Jessica

Tijuana

Evan

18 I think. Because I smoked cloves before that, but then they were too expensive. I think I started smoking because all the cool kids were doing it. I thought they were cool. So four years total, on again off again, four years.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been smoking since I was 14. Why I started? Bad influence, friends.

I started in 2004. All my friends they smoke, so I started smoking. My first cigarette was bad because I felt sick.

125

John

Monalisa

Muhammed

20, 12 years. Why? Uh, I remember the first time I smoked a cigarette I was in the military in Korea, in the snow, and it seemed like a good idea, I don’t know.

Like 17. Yeah, peer pressure. Hard to quit. I tried like ten times already. Bad habit. Wouldn’t suggest it for nobody.

From the cold weather because actually I come from a cold country. Uh…a year ago.

126

Jon

Tyrone

Michael

I smoke cigarettes, they’re delicious. Um, I don’t know, since I was 15. So 15 years…wow, that’s horrible. I don’t know, it was cool? It was the cool thing to do.

My first cigarette I barely knew how to smoke, but I got high off of it a little bit. And then that led on to more and more and more. Then I got addicted to it. It’s bad for your health, but if you can afford it, it’s good enough for you.

I was hanging out with one of my friends, and it was just like a social thing. Uh 17. Three years.

127

Katherine

Frank

Marco

16, about five years now. My friend from home started smoking, I guess I started because she did. Stupid reason. I love smoking. I know a lot of people right now who are trying to quit, and they always say you should quit too but I really like it. I like smoking when I’m stressed, I like smoking when I drink coffee, I like smoking after class. I met a lot of people when I first came to school because everyone was smoking.

I’ve been smoking since I was 17 years old. It was the thing to do. And I should have never started.

I just started because it was fun and I was hanging out with my friends. I was 16. Like four years I’d say.

128

Juan

Kardara

John

Uh, when I was 16. Like, eight. Um, because, it was really cold outside and I thought that a cigarette would make me warm, but it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make me warm, it made me sick. Yeah, my brother smoked cigarettes but like I never really wanted to smoke one, and then I thought like, it would for some reason like I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know make me warmer, but. And then after that I started smoking them here and there.

I started smoking at 15 because I was on probation and I used to smoke weed so I started smoking cigarettes. They stress relievers.

I started smoking when I was 17 to relax. It relaxes me. 13 years.

129

Kevin

Donald

Olivia

I started smoking five years ago when I was working at a beer distributor, because I guess everyone around me was smoking and I guess I started smoking like that. And why? I smoke because I enjoy it when I’m drinking, mostly, driving in the car, and that’s about it, I can’t smoke at work.

I started smoking when I was 14 years old because of peer pressure. The guys that I hung around with, the girls that I hung around with, they smoked too. So I wanted to be like them. Now I’m having problems, I’ve been trying to quit, but it’s hard. I smoke maybe two or three cigarettes a day now. But I used to smoke a pack and a half a day. I’m down to two or three cigarettes but I have to quit because it’s giving me chest problems. So I’m slowly weaning myself off of cigarettes. But I love ya!

Since seventh grade. Because it’s cool, man.

130

Leah

Jabrelle

Cindy

I’m a sophomore here and I guess my first cigarette was when I was about 15. I’ve been smoking continuously since like freshman year of college. And I can’t really tell you why I smoke. I guess it’s kind of a social thing but me and my friends are on a campaign to quit right now, we’ll see how that goes.

I’ve been smoking for, like, 11 years. I started smoking from stress, like stressed out, smoke a cigarette, I’m cool. Ya feel me? That’s all.

Young, peer pressure probably. I was 17, I think. Long time…30 years.

131

Matthew

Terrance

Lisa

I’m a bartender at McGlinchey’s. I started smoking when I was 11 years old, I’ve been smoking for nearly 15 years. And I started, I guess because all of my friends smoked, I don’t know. That was the thing to do. First cigarette I ever smoked was a Salem.

I started when I was 11 smoking Pall Malls from my cousin. You know what I mean? I used to turn so red. My mom, she said if I catch you smoking I’ll make you eat them. I used to flush a pack down the toilet, then she’d call the plumber. I’m 51, I’ve been smoking ever since then. I quit at two years, went back. I quit at one year and went back. Quit at three months, I went back. Quit at two months and went back. So ever since then I’ve been progressing on a week here, three days here.

I started smoking when I was 12 because everyone else did. I’ve been smoking for 11 years.

132

Mel

Peter

Slava

I had my first cigarette at like 12, and then I smoked from 12 to 13, and then I was straightedge until I was probably 20, and then I started smoking again around 21. And um, I quit smoking twice, probably, and I guess I started smoking again, the latest about two and a half years ago after I got divorced. So, yeah.

I probably started smoking when I was 17 when I joined the service. Been smoking ever since. Why I started? Hanging out with the older soldiers at the club. I wasn’t actually old enough to get inside the club ‘cause I was only 17. But I hung out with them and started smoking Winstons. At first it used to make me dizzy, but I got used to getting dizzy. Now I’m hooked. Can’t get off of it. Tried the patch, doesn’t work. Not for me. That’s my story.

I’ve been smoking…uh I started when I was 17 I think, now I’m 28. Why? Well I guess that’s a tough question. It happened like right after school. Maybe it was influence from my like social circuit. My dad smokes, so that probably has some influence as well.

133

Mike

Ashley

Kevin

I started smoking, in fourth grade. And I’m 53 years old now, so that had to be a long time ago. I was just a loner, but I hooked up with some guys from a corner called Amber and Sesky. And they all smoked, in fourth grade. So I had to start smoking. My wife don’t like it, I don’t like it. And that’s the whole story, period. Fartenburg, me, Shorty, all these guys, you know and I’m still not dead. Now I’m a celebrity.

I started smoking three years ago after I had my son due to Postpartum Depression.

I’m 34. Since I was 19. Why? It was peer pressure basically...friends. I’m trying to quit. That’s what I’m trying to do.

134

Mike

Tiffany

Angel

I’m 28 now I started when I was 25, due to a breakup. I figured cigarettes over worse things to do would be the winner, that’s how I first started smoking. Then I was in a good relationship, I stopped. I just started again maybe like, eight months ago. I’m to the point now where I smoke cigarettes when I drink other than that, I don’t smoke, so, I’m trying to like stop, know what I mean? This is my fourth cigarette all day, before that I haven’t had a cigarette in five days. Trying to wean off of it.

I started smoking like two years ago. I really don’t smoke that much, I probably smoke like four or five cigarettes a pack and I pass them to my mom. She been smoking for a long time. I started smoking ‘cause of stress but then again I’m about to stop ‘cause it’s making my teeth yellow and it’s slowing my breath down.

Been smoking since the age of 13, influenced by friends in school. For 20 years now.

135

Nick

Stephanie

Carly

32. I’ve been smoking since 1992, that’s 19 years. My smoking habit should be driving a car and paying for my mortgage. I started smoking because everybody that I ever looked up to, smoked. My grandmother taught me how to read and tie my shoes, she smoked. Slash is my favorite musician, he smokes. He will not do an interview unless he’s allowed to drink whiskey and smoke cigarettes on camera, I’m like, you’re goddamn fucking right mother fucker.

I’ve been smoking since I was about 14, sneaking of course. And cigarettes were only 15 cents a pack back then. And I’m still smoking and they seven dollars almost. And they taste horrible. Anyone who is starting to smoke, don’t do it. Newports are the most addictive cigarettes out there. Leave them alone, they will kill you.

I started because… I don’t know. I guess I thought it was cool. I was 18. Almost 12 years.

136

Paul

Steven

Megan

I started smoking when I was 12, I’ve smoked on and off since then. Lately I picked up smoking when I stopped smoking weed. A little crutch. Why? I don’t know. Really no reason, maybe what was going on around me, people smoked around me, so I picked up smoking that way.

I started smoking cigarettes when I was 18 years old. I’m 35 years old right now. Oh, why I started smoking? I started smoking cigarettes because of stress reasons. You know. Mainly because I wanted to fit in with the crowd when I was young. You know, smoking was the thing back then. So you know, every day I wake up I need a cigarette. You know what I’m saying. A cup of coffee and a cigarette will do you justice early in the morning.

I was 14. I started because I was smoking my parents’ cigarettes when they weren’t looking. So I guess I’ve been smoking now almost 20 years.

137

138

Chapter 5

139

About 20,000 Pennsylvanian adults die annually due to smoking-related health problems, according to PA Tobacco Facts for 2009/10, a report by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The Department of Health sponsors several annual studies on smoking in Pennsylvania, including Pennsylvania Tobacco Facts, Key Outcome Indicators Reports, and Pennsylvania Adult/Youth Tobacco Surveys.

According to the most recent of these studies, the PA Tobacco Facts for 2009/ 2010,

cigarette sales have declined by 28 percent between 2002 and

2009 in Pennsylvania. The total cost to the state for tobacco-related health problems is $4.7 billion a year. Younger people tend to smoke more, and from 2006 to 2010, the percentage of youth smokers has remained the same, at five percent. Also, illegal in Pennsylvania have

sales of tobacco

fallen from 50 percent in 1996 to five percent in 2008. About 86 percent of people stated that smoking has been banned at their work places, and 85 percent of people who have children say that they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t permit smoking in their homes. Smoking consumption in Pennsylvania in 2006 was about 1,600 per capita sales of cigarettes, whereas the overall U.S. smoking consumption in 2006 was at about 1,700 per

capita sales. Pennsylvaniaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual cigarette sales have been decreasing since 1998, when the annual per capita sales of cigarettes amounted to 2,500; this was above the national per capita sale of 2,300.

140

The rate at which Pennsylvania cigarette sales drop changes every year, and is therefore hard

fewer smoking purchases made annually, cigarette sales now result in higher tax revenues, due to predict. However, even though there are

to the increase in tax rates over the last several years. To be precise, there were about one billion cigarette packs bought in Pennsylvania in 2002, whereas there were 723 million packs of cigarettes bought in 2009. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 288 million fewer packs, yet between 2002 and 2009 there was a $398 million increase in tax gains from cigarette packs. So, more money is coming into the state because of cigarettes, even though fewer people are actually buying them. When it comes to youth smoking, about four percent of middle school students had smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days, according to the Pennsylvania Youth Tobacco Survey 2008. Among high school students, 20 percent of boys and 15 percent of girls said they had smoked at least once in the past 30 days. One out of every eight middle school students uses some sort of smoking product â&#x20AC;&#x201C; defined by The Pennsylvania Tobacco Facts as cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, cigars, and pipes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and one

three high school students smokes or uses smoking products.

out of

141

Regina

Erin

Darnell

The first time I tried a cigarette was when I was 14. I stopped ‘cause I joined track and crosscountry, started up again when I was sixteen, I’m now 30. I been smoking that long ‘cause I enjoy it and I tried the cigarette out of curiosity.

I’m 19. I had my first cigarette when I was 12 but didn’t really start smoking smoking ‘til like high school, so like 14, 15. I honestly couldn’t tell you why I started. It just kind of happened.

I was about ten years old ‘cause I like to smoke.

142

Ray

Damon

Edward

I started smoking, I guess, 18 because I’m a dork and I waited to even try till it was legal. I don’t know, I guess, since then, 12 years, but I didn’t really smoke all the time, on and off. A cigar now and then. I’ll smoke a pipe on and off. Right now I’m smoking Black & Milds which are made with pipe tobacco. Because I could, because it was something to try, seemed interesting. Nothing like a big fat cigar to make you seem like a total badass. Yeah, I guess just for the fun of it.

I started smoking when I was 14. I’m 45 now. I started smoking just to be cool.

I probably had my first cigarette around 5th grade so like 12. I Started smoking at 15, I’m 22 now. I started smoking because my friend was smoking too, so.

143

Steven

Mike

Alex

I started smoking in between tenth and 11th grade in high school. So, I’ve been smoking for four years. I gave into peer pressure or whatever you want to call it.

I started smoking because of my friend Arthur this summer. Now he went back to college and now I’m addicted to cigarettes.

I’ve been smoking since probably like 14. I used to see my dad smoking Marlboro Reds and that was probably what got me hooked. I’m 22 so the better part of the decade.

144

Stosh

Roberto

Christian

I guess I’ve been smoking like 15 years. I started smoking as a way of rebelling against my father. Me and my sister would sneak his cigarettes and you know go smoke his cigarettes. I guess I started when I was around 15 or 14, I didn’t really get started until I was like 17 or 18.

I started smoking when I was about 17. I’m 37 now. I guess being in a mixed crowd, wanting to be cool, which is an idiot thing to say, but yeah, that’s about right.

I started smoking when I was 14. I started smoking because my brother and his friends were smoking. I thought it would be kind of cool to start with them all, and I just kept smoking. I’m 27 now, so that would make 13 years of smoking. So, it’s a long time.

145

Sung

Shannon

Andrew

I guess when you’re a kid you want to try things. If something’s bad, if something’s forbidden to you then that’s exactly why you would want to do it. You know, smoking is part of that adult world. And maybe it was advertised. No, you know what? Those packages of cigarettes they look so colorful, they’re like candy, it’s like ohh Marlboro, how is that different from Salems and Winstons and stuff like that. They have such cool names, like Winston, Marlboro.

I started smoking around the age of 13, 14. The reason why I started smoking was ‘cause I had a lot of stress. I was stressed out ‘cause my mom wasn’t with me or whatever. So I don’t know, I just started smoking cigarettes. And it’s a bad habit to lose, too. I’m trying to quit, but you know.

I started smoking when I was about 14, guess because I thought it was cool, and then I got addicted. About four, five years.

146

Timothy

Girard

Steve

My first cigarette, I was 15 years old. I think it was a Belair, or something like that. I got sick as shit. Nasty, evil, but it warmed you. The filth crept in and the feeling got better and I was a smoker. I’m 34 now so quite a bit. That’s half my life, easy. I quit for a long time. I thought it was a long time. My best friend just passed away, we were good buddies from the Navy, my shipmate. And I just I felt the urge to smoke, it’s comforting, it’s like the hand on your back. I don’t know, maybe, I don’t know.

I started smoking when I was 30. Ehh, I don’t know. I was incarcerated. That’s it.

I started smoking when I was 17 so it’s been a long time. Why? Uh… peer pressure. It’s been… I’ve been smoking for 16 years.

147

Trudy

Keith

Shanese

When I was 11. I stopped for four years and I started again, and I didn’t smoke when I was pregnant. But I’ve been smoking for about 35 years. I had a stepmother that was very abusive and she looked at me one day and said I’ll beat the crap outta you if you pick up them cigarettes. I walked up the street, went in the store, and bought my first pack. Just pure rebellion. Well, not cool now but yeah, it was pure rebellion. So.

I started smoking when I was 13 years old. I started smoking with my friends and I’ve been smoking ever since.

I started smoking at 14 years old. The reason why I smoke, sometimes out of boredom or to calm my nerves. Well, I’m 22 now, so pretty long. I’m trying to quit. I really am.

148

Tom

Sam

Jillian

I started smoking three years ago. It is pretty cost effective, like I go through three packs a week and it’s building up some money. I started smoking, the job was a lot of stress and I found it to be the only way to get a decent break so you know, that’s how it started.

I started smoking like maybe sophomore year, around there. Basically started off just bumming cigarettes drinking in the woods. And then eventually I just had to stop bumming and started buying packs and it just kind of stuck.

18. Because my boyfriend was… that’s such a crappy answer. I didn’t understand how to smoke for like the first two years, I just kind of like puffed it away, didn’t really understand how to smoke, but when I did I think that’s when the problems started of actually smoking.

149

Paolo

Hasan

Amanda

I started smoking, uh, [when I was] 16 years old. So, that’s, uh, what? 28 years. I smoke like every young people they start smoking. Yeah, I wanna look cool, like everybody.

I’m 48. I’ve been smoking since I was 13. It eases the stress off a motherfucker like me. Right now I’m going through a financial difficulty so I’m smoking like a choo-choo train. Probably go through a pack of cigarettes, maybe two today. In jail, a pack of cigarettes is $50. One cigarette is five dollars in jail because it’s the black market. Everybody wants to smoke cigarettes they in jail so they pay $50 and five dollars for one cigarette. I’ve done it, but that’s a lot of money for one cigarette or a pack.

I started smoking to impress a boy when I was 16, and I’ve been smoking for about five years now.

150

Joyce

Gary

Jeff

I’ve been smoking since I’m 17. I always swore I wouldn’t smoke, but I started dating a guy who smoked, and to compensate for it, I started smoking, and I’ve never looked back. I’m 45, I smoke two packs a day. I am a fetish smoking model. I’m known all over the world for it, I have fans, literally, thousands of fans all over the world. Like I said, I’ve been downloaded three million times.

I started smoking when I joined the Army when I was 18. It just relaxes me, a nervous habit I guess. I have tried to stop several times but I will continue to because I know it’s wrong. It’s a hard habit to break. It’s hard. With the withdraws it’s really hard. It could be just as bad as drugs to a certain extent because you have the bad dreams, you don’t feel like yourself anymore. And in reality smoking is like a friend. It’s like holding a friend. It’s not necessarily smoke itself, but I guess also just holding it. It’s like a pacifier.

I started smoking when I was about 18, and I don’t remember why exactly I started smoking honestly. I’m 23 now.

151

Zack

Kenny

Alex

When I was 16 years old. Almost five years now. Bitches and whiskey.

I started smoking over a year ago. And the reason why I guess I stopped using drugs so I picked up cigarettes. And now that’s another drug so hopefully I can kick this habit and I’ll be done. Sometimes it cures your hunger cravings and stuff like that for me. And basically that’s all I really know about it. I haven’t been doing it that long.

I’ve been smoking since I was 17. I started smoking actually to kind of help curb an appetite a little bit because I heard that if you smoke a little bit more it kind of helps you eat less. It didn’t really work out too well for me but I’ve just been smoking ever since. I’m 19 now… or 20 now…what the… I don’t even now how old I am…I’m 20 now.

152

Tracy

Tanya

Stacy

I stated smoking when I was 22 years old because my college roommate was smoking, that’s it.

I started smoking at the age of 18. I’m 41. And why I started smoking? Being a follower and seeing my mom doing it so I started.

I’ve been smoking since I was 18. I’m 43 now. Why did I start smoking? I worked in a bar and it kept me awake.

153

Aaron

Joe

Teresa

16. My ex-girlfriend was a bitch and I wanted breaks at work. I’ll be 19 on Saturday so three years.

I started smoking when I was 18 years old and the reason is peer pressure.

I’m 19 years old. I started smoking like a few years ago just because me and my friends back home… we started in the summer and it was a like a social thing. Like, we’d all get together and just smoke in the car or smoke when we’re going to Wawa or something like that. And I guess it started from there. I was 17.

154

Greg

Bob

Nick

I’m 27, I live in Philadelphia, I’ve been smoking since about the time I turned 17. So, about ten years now. I was in high school. I guess a friend just gave me a cigarette and, I don’t know, sort of took off from there. I mean, it does when I go and visit family in New York where its, you know, absurd amounts of money. But, but not here in Philadelphia. Not yet anyway.

I started smoking probably three years ago. It was probably, you know, a habit that started through my group of friends then it just continued and I never saw a fit to stop it.

I started smoking when I was 14 because it was cool. And now I’m 20 and it’s not that cool anymore.

155

Ryan

Jarred

Kate

I’m 18 right now. I started smoking when I was 16.

I started smoking six years ago. I smoked like randomly on and off for a couple years and have been really smoking for three years, two or three years actually. It was something to do. And, you know, to fit in with the cool kids.

I started smoking in like high school because I don’t know, I thought it was cool. And now I do it, I don’t do it that often but when school stresses me out.

156

James

Jason

Ryola

I’ve been smoking since I was, like, 14 or 15. I’m up to, like… well, last semester I was up to like two packs a day, and I had to slow down because I couldn’t afford it. Then I started selling drugs and now I can afford that again, so, it’s working out really nicely. And, the way I see it, by the time that I get lung cancer they’ll probably have a cure for it, hopefully. And if not, I don’t really want to live much longer than 55-60 anyway. So, it’ll be an interesting way to go out.

I started when I was 17 because, I don’t know, I wanted to.

I am… what am I? 52 old. And I’ve been smoking for about 30 years and I enjoy smoking. I wish I could stop though. I don’t know… I think being a teenager and trying to be grown. You know? But hiding it from the parents. You got to hide it from your parents now.

157

Ben

Bobby

Dan

I’m 18 and I’ve been smoking since sophomore year of high school. I just kind of started because all the people that I rolled with smoked so it was kind of, like, the thing to do at the time. I haven’t really tried to quit yet, because, the way I see it, I’ll just stop smoking when I stop doing drugs. And then at that point, you know, I’ll just have a good job and life will be good. And, yeah, they’re mad expensive, so, I’m smoking these roll jawns, trying to save some money, but nicotine’s nicotine.

I started smoking when my grandma died in August.

I first started smoking when I was 15, so I’ve been smoking for five years. And I started because my friends started.

158

Liam

Aaron

Alicia

I started smoking when I was 18. I started smoking because I was a tutor at Bloomsburg and people pissed me off, because of how stupid they were, and I needed cigarettes, and I found that it’s a good way to relieve stress. And I don’t smoke often though. I only smoke when I’m at school, work, and when I’m drinking. But in my free time when I’m sober and studying, I don’t. I don’t smoke at home. So, I go through, maybe, a pack every two to three weeks.

I started smoking when I was 20. And that’s about the time I started drinking beer so I smoked to drink beer and then it became a habit after that.

I’ve been smoking off and on for 22 years. I started when I was 20…or 18 sorry.

159

Olivia

Jim

Anthony

I’m 20 years old and I had my first cigarette in seventh grade, which is sad. And, I don’t know why I started smoking. It was just cool to do, man. And, now I like it. I used to smoke American Spirits, but they’re way too expensive now, so I had to downgrade. But I still smoke the same amount. Just less expensive cigarettes.

Now listen to this. Don’t do drugs. See I started early, sixth grade. I’ve been smoking marijuana for so many years and then got over that. So all I can tell you if you don’t smoke, don’t smoke. Now some people can smoke a lifetime and still live a good life. And some people can smoke, here comes cancer, other diseases, heart affects. You know, but me I’m going to be here forever. There’s my picture. I should get a picture for this.

I started smoking when I was 14 years old, I’m 30 now so it has been 16 years.

160

Emily

Jannaka

Bill

I don’t really smoke cigs. When I smoke cigs I get really, really high. So that’s the only reason I smoke them. I never buy a pack, or else I’d smoke it all and then I’d just become a smoker and that’s not a good thing.

Well, I started smoking years ago, but I had stopped for a whole year. I went back ‘cause I’ve been stressing ‘cause my daughter is very sickly ill and my son is too. So that’s what drew me back to smoking. I’m getting ready to quit again ‘cause I have oxygen in my home.

I had my first cigarette at 16, I am 36 now so I’ve been smoking for 20 years. I had my first cigarette down at Chatham Park and it was given to me by my cousin.

161

Brandon

Danielle

Benjamin

I’m a freshman here at Temple. I started smoking cigarettes freshman year of high school. I started working at CVS Pharmacy and got them there. I live in Jersey so it’s 19 there, so I was like, oh God I can’t ever get cigarettes. Then I just started trying them, and then I started going to packs. I probably smoke, like, a pack a day now. I quit a lot. I kind of quit like every pack and then, I just start up when I buy a new pack the next day. But yeah, it sucks. I hate it. I don’t want to do it, but, I need to.

Since I was 13 years old, 28 years old, I was with four of my girl friends at my very first time going to church by myself and we were in a mass and we were really bored and we decided to leave and we went in back of the church and somebody had a pack of Marlboro Red cigarettes and that was the first cigarette that I tried and I coughed and coughed like crazy and then I kept trying it again and it stuck.

I had my first cigarette when I was ten years old, I guess I have been smoking for… 18 years, that’s a long time. But I am a social smoker so I only smoke when I am drinking or when I just got done work or at nighttime.

162

Kelsey

Kristin

Brian

I’m 19 years old, almost 20 in, like, two weeks. I started smoking, I don’t know, I’ve been smoking, like, on and off for a couple years, but, like really started like a year ago I guess. I didn’t start for any reason. Just to feed the nicotine monster I guess. Cigarettes are cheaper here than in Jersey, so, I mean, I feel bad. Like, I’m not gonna buy them in Jersey, but… I say I’m gonna quit. We’ll see if that ever happens.

I started smoking around my junior year of college, so that was four years ago, four or five years ago. When I started I smoked a lot, I was smoking clove cigarettes. I started with my roommate and really we just wanted something to do. We were bored sitting in our college dorm apartment. We just wanted to drive around, I guess look cool, cloves taste pretty good, well, used to taste pretty good. I don’t really smoke that much anymore, every once and a while if I’m offered one maybe, but I’m over that part of my life.

I have been smoking on and off for 22 years. My first cigarette was when I was 17, I smoked it because my buddy would smoke all the time and every time he would get stressed out he would smoke a bunch of cigarettes. I was stressed out about something and I was making fun of him, so I lit up a cigarette and it has been a joyride ever since.

163

Melody

Nick

Bruno

I’m 45. And, I’ve been smoking since I was about 17. So, it’s been quite a while, and it is time to stop. I know that. So, I don’t want to do that. I smoked—it basically started off as peer pressure. Then it went to school pressure. Then it went to job pressure. Then it just went to anything else. You know, daily living pressures. It’s social. You have a drink, you have a smoke. Coffee! You have a drink, you have a smoke. You eat, you have a drink, you eat, you smoke. So, that’s basically it.

I’ve been smoking since I was 19 and I’m 22 now, so I’ve been smokin’ for three years and I started smoking because I used to work at Acme, supermarket, in case anyone doesn’t know what that is. And the only way to get breaks is to smoke cigarettes outside and if you smoke cigarettes outside you can do less work and not get yelled at for it. So that’s what I did. So I ended up getting like 45 minutes worth of cigarette breaks a day just because I smoked cigarettes.

I started smoking probably when I was 13. I had my first smoke when I was in third grade, me and my buddy stole a smoke from his mom, went down to the creek and smoked a cigarette and felt lightheaded and loved it. I have been smoking for 14 years.

164

John

Ryan

Carla

I started smoking when I was 16. And, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really know why I started. I got stressed out one day, grabbed a cigarette and that was it.

I think I officially started smoking when I was like freshman or sophomore in college. During the summer I worked for a demolition company with middle-aged men who also smoked. You know it was just something to do in the morning, get up, go to work, smoke a cigarette before you start.

I have been smoking since I was 15.Â I have been smoking for almost seven years.Â My first cigarette was actually in the back yard of my old house, me and my brother stole one from my dad.

165

Charles

Mason

Chinita

I started smoking in high school at a restaurant. I had a job, and my only break was my cigarette break, so I picked it up there. I’ve been smoking four years.

I am 20 years old. I have been smoking for four years, since I was 16. I have never really tried to quit. The price of it hasn’t really affected how much I smoked. It’s really always been expensive. Sometimes I roll my own when I have less money.

I started smoking when I was 19, it has been 15 years since I have been smoking.

166

Allie

Ann

Colleen

I’m 18. I started smoking when I was a senior in high school because a lot of my friends were doing it and I thought it was the cool thing to do. I tried my first cigarette at a party, the more parties I went to the more I kept trying them. Unfortunately, I haven’t tried to quit yet. I just kind of don’t think about it that much because I’m in college and there’s a lot of smokers in college and I’m hoping that when I, like, get out of college and get a real job and start a family and stuff, that’s when my plan is to quit, but, we’ll see how that goes.

I am 19. I started smoking when I was 16 because my friends did I guess. And the diner I worked at, everyone went on smoke breaks all the time. And I have not really tried to quit.

I have been smoking for two years now. I started when I was 17 years old. My first cigarette, I was at a party and saw all of my friends smoking and thought it was cool and now it is not so cool.

167

Vinnie

Larkin

Dan

I started smoking when I was a sophomore in high school. I started smoking because I wanted to be cool. And it became a habit that was it. I’m 43, so it’s been a while.

I don’t really know why I started smoking. That sounds really stupid. I roll my own, so I pay nothing. I don’t smoke all that much. I probably smoke a pack of Drum every two weeks. So, I really don’t smoke that much.

I started smoking a pipe actually when I was 13. After that I went to Skoal dipping tobacco and then I had to quit that because it was rotting out my teeth so I went to smoking at like 15. I have been smoking for 15 years now.

168

Pat

Eamon

Heather

I had my first cigarette at 14 that I got from my brother. And I continued smoking for the next, how many years is that, I’m 32 now. Anyway, for those many years because I found a pack of cigarettes by the mailbox. And they were delicious.

I am 18. I started smoking the end of the summer probably. Usually I roll my own cigarettes. But now I have been too lazy to ride my bike to go get it. I have been trying to buy less because of that. I never really tried to quit. Sometimes I will just smoke less, but not actually quit. Usually just because of the price though.

I started smoking when I was 12 years old. My girlfriend down the street said that the Gulf station had a vending machine. They were two dollars a pack we could just go in and get them, we got Marlboro Light 100s and we sat behind her air conditioning unit and smoked them all. Never really stopped except for when I was pregnant, 19 years I have been smoking.

169

170

Chapter 6

171

Men and women all over the country smoke cigarettes, but who smokes more? Statistics show that while men are in the lead, as of recently, women

are gradually catching up. According to data released from the Centers for Disease Control in 2010, about 23 percent of men in America smoke, while about 19 percent of women identify as smokers.

Until the 1960s, smoking was considered a predominantly male activity, according to the 2010 article Men, Women

This was not always the case, however.

and Smoking found on Tobacco Facts, a website devoted to analysis, research, and coverage of the tobacco industry. After the ‘60s, cigarette

ads started to focus more on marketing to women. With ads that featured the words “slim” and “light,”

women were encouraged to see cigarettes as a way to control their weight. Men, Women and Smoking also states that cigarettes became a way for women to feel sexy and stylish, and companies even started manufacturing “purse sized” cigarette boxes.

Men, Women and Smoking says that men, too, felt a lot of pressure from cigarette

companies. With the introduction of the Marlboro

Man, a tough, rugged

cowboy, as a highly visible character in cigarette advertisements, men felt that smoking cigarettes made them more rustic, more masculine.

172

In reality, cigarettes inflict considerable damage on the lungs and throat and put smokers

at risk for a variety of health problems. Women

are especially at risk for the harmful effects of cigarettes, and stand a much higher chance at contracting different cancers and illnesses, according to Men, Women and Smoking.

Anyone who smokes risks contracting lung cancer. The CDC reports that smoking increases menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s risk of developing lung cancer by 23 times; womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s risk increases by 13 times. More

cancer.

women die each year of lung cancer than of breast

Smoking cigarettes also puts women at an increased risk for pregnancy difficulties such as infertility, miscarriages, and preterm birth, according to the CDC. Other risks include cervical cancer, osteoporosis, incontinence, early menopause, and weakened bones. Smoking also increases the risk of stroke by two to four times in men and women. The CDC ranks smoking as the leading cause of preventable death across the country. Smoking puts people at risk for many possible health problems, and men and women both suffer. According to the CDC, Pennsylvania ranks 40th in amount of smokers among the states, with over 2 million smokers, but Philadelphia

ranks number one

out of all cities in the nation. There have been many non-smoking campaigns launched, and many organizations are trying to get bans passed on smoking in Philadelphia and across the country.

173

Ryan

Maurag

I go by J Real. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been smoking for five years. Started smoking when I was 15 and started smoking, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know, it just seemed like the thing to do. After I got comfortable with it, it becomes a part of a habit. It is basically an addiction but I try not to look at it that way.

I started smoking probably two years ago. My family smokes so I kind of smoked and I like it, I think that is it.

I started smoking about three years ago and it was mostly so I could take breaks at work.

174

Amy

Alvro

David

I’ve smoked on and off for probably six years and I think it correlates a lot with the fact that I work in the restaurant industry because every time I seem to quit a restaurant job, I don’t need to smoke.

I started smoking like two years ago, when I was 27. It was because all of the people that I write with, smoke, and it’s impossible to be in a room full of smokers and not smoke.

I started smoking 20 years ago because I was ten years old and didn’t know any better.

175

Jesse

Angela

Theresa

I started smoking weed, first, and then when I couldn’t find weed I would smoke cigarettes.

I smoked them maybe over 20 years. Why I’m smoking? I don’t know. I just like to smoke.

Okay, I’m 45. I’ve been smoking for like 25 years. It looked cool to me.

176

Alyssa

Jessica

Ethan

I’m 18 and I started smoking when I was 16 and I guess because of influences. Everybody at my house smokes so I just started.

I started smoking when I was 16 years old and I was in the restaurant industry and people smoked when they were stressed out so I was like, oh, I’m stressed out I’m gonna smoke too. 15 years later, I still smoke.

I am 24, I’ve been smoking since 16. I started smoking, I thought it was cool and I’ve been smoking ever since.

177

Steven

Zach

Evan

I’ve been smoking for about a year now. It started to calm me down cause I was getting a lot of stress, so it calmed me down.

I started probably about three years ago when I started tech school in the military, it’s pretty stressful and I started smoking. They actually wouldn’t let us bring cigarettes on base and keeping them in our dorms so I had to smoke a pack a day whenever I bought it.

I‘ve been smoking for say 12 years or so and primarily because people said you got more stoned, if you smoked a cigarette afterwards.

178

Clint

Zach

I only smoke socially when I’m drinking. Been drinking since I was like a little kid, so I guess I started smoking then. Why? I don’t know. I want to come out and freeze my balls off with the rest of the people I suppose.

I started smoking about six years ago. I started only because my older brother did and they kinda got me into it so like, I haven’t been able to stop since.

I started smoking pot originally, can I say that? Started smoking pot summer of ninth grade going into tenth. Why I started smoking, uh, social environment and ‘cause getting high is quite fun.

179

George

Kevin

Frank

I’ve been smoking for probably around three or four years. Why did I start smoking? I guess, I don’t knowm, in high school everyone was doing it. So I just wanted a cig. It wasn’t like the cool thing, I regret actually smoking, but that’s why I did it.

I started smoking when I was a freshman in high school and I started smoking because all my friends did it.

I started about ten years ago and it was kind of everybody was doing it so I did it.

180

Joshua

Nicodemo

Todd

I started smoking when I was about 15, with my buddies. I started smoking because my friends did, they both played baseball, dip tobacco, smoking cigarettes, that was our thing. We used to sneak out of our house, sit on the curb talk ‘til the sun comes up smoke cigarettes and spit and just hang out. It is kind of amazing I really like, Camel Filters are the cigarettes I smoke, yeah that’s about it.

I smoke socially. Probably like a couple years ago I started just like at parties and stuff, just like social events with friends, like when I drink I smoke.

First semester at Temple, last year and why I did because it is my right to smoke. Don’t trust the government, trust yourself but when it comes to a private organization, you can trust them ‘cause all they want to do is make money and serve you.

181

Penny

Chris

John

I started smoking when I was 16 and I started smoking because I had friends that smoked and I just picked it up and started doing it with them. I was kind of curious to be honest. I did it once, I liked it and kept doing it. Now I only smoke during weekends when I am drinking usually, so I would say about two packs within the three weekend nights.

I started, I wanna say three, maybe four years ago and it just got heavier as I got into college and started to drink. Just how it was and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how its gotta be. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a strong smoker and it will probably always be.

I started smoking in sixth grade and I started smoking because everyone else was doing it. My girlfriend at the time would bring me cigarettes in sixth grade, in Brooklyn actually, in the school yard.

182

Michelle

Corey

Nastasha

I’ve been smoking since I was 17, I’m 22. I started smoking because someone asked me if I wanted a cigarette, I never tried one, so I tried one. The first time I tried it, it was gross and disgusting. Even though I thought it was gross, I still wanted a cigarette.

I started smoking when I was about 16 because somebody was like, yo do you want to try it. I was like, I never smoked before so, sure I guess. Kinda just got addicted ever since.

I started smoking like junior year. I’m not quite sure why I did it, some people think it’s the trend and maybe that’s what it was but I started to get addicted to it and I’m trying to quit right now but it’s really hard.

183

Brittany

Jake

Gina

I have been smoking for three years. I started because I worked at a restaurant and everybody else there smoked and I just started.

I have been smoking since my freshman year. I started smoking because I saw my parents smoking.

I started smoking a year and a half ago because I was wasted and I took a drag of someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cigarette and I was addicted ever since. I wish I could stop but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kind of hard. I mean I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to stop, I want to stop, but I enjoy it too much.

184

Joy

Jim

Ivory

I started smoking when I was in eighth grade, haven’t quit since, besides cheerleading which made me quit for months and the only reason I started smoking was because the friends I was hanging with were smoking.

I actually spited my health teacher because she was such a bitch, so I started smoking and it wasn’t even a conscious decision. I always smoked weed for like two years before that.

I’ve been smoking about 22 years. I started smoking, I don’t, I started and I liked it and, you know.

185

Jared

Becca

Jim

I started smoking 12 years ago and I started because everyone around me smoked.

I started smoking 16 years ago. I was actually dared to smoke a cigarette, and I wanted to be cool.

I smoked when I was 15 and now Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m 46. Why? With the friends. I saw my friends start. Eh itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ok go, it looks good on you, try. So, I did.

186

Clint

Marie

Colin

I started smoking when I was ten. I guess thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 16 years ago and I guess my dad smokes, my mom smokes, and I wanted to be like them. So, I thought it was cool I guess, started smoking.

I started smoking when I was 15, I think. I started smoking because my friend got me into smoking, she just said here try one, and I did.

I started smoking 11 years ago in 2001 the day my grandfather died because I was going to buy a blunt to put weed into. The best I could find was a Philly Black Max. I tried smoking weed out of that but it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work so well so I kept on smoking all the tobacco.

187

Daniel

Colin

Olivia

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been smoking for ten years and I started smoking because my friend smoked and I just started smoking with him. Then I woke up one day and wanted a cigarette.

I started smoking in rehab. Not sure why, it was kind of something to do to get me through and then I just kept smoking.

I started smoking last summer and I started smoking because my friend was like, Oh Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m trying to quit, want to split a pack with me? and I was like, sure, sounds like a great idea, I am really sleep deprived and I really like cigarettes. Yeah that is pretty much it and it is a really good stress reliever and sometimes I have to hide out in the back of my house and pretend like I am not crazy to hide it from my mother who has no idea that I smoke.

188

Antwaan

Nicole

Caroline

I started smoking a couple years ago. I started smoking just to be cool.

I started smoking at 22 and I started smoking because of stress.

First cigarette ever, 11 and I started more frequently smoking when I was 13 and since then I havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really tried to quite, but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m trying now. Honestly, I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like it at first.

189

Leo

Garred

Marie

I’ve been smoking for like ten years. Why I smoke? I have kids.

I started smoking when I was 16. Only reason I started smoking was, I don’t know, I was always around it. My dad smoking, my mom smoking, eventually it kinda caught on and rubbed off on me.

I’ve been smoking for about 25 years. I just started smoking because, I don’t know, maybe because everybody else was trying it. A lot of my girlfriends, they got caught and they stopped, but I didn’t get caught so that’s why I’m still smoking.

190

Scott

Adrian

About like 13 years. I actually recently quit about, a couple months back then my girl stressed me the fuck out and I started smoking again.

Couple years. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know why it just came.

I started smoking when I was 12. The reason I started smoking was because nobody there to stop me.

191

Tom

Miles

Mary

I’m 35. I started smoking when I was 13 because Marlboro was giving out free samples in the subway.

I was down in the woods and older guys and I were smoking cigarettes so since then I’ve been smoking the same thing, yeah. That was about, jeez, 20 years ago. But I also smoke pot, and grow pot, but I don’t grow tobacco.

I started smoking because I wanted to be cool and I’ve been smoking for 30 years.

192

Frank

John

Julia

Probably like 15 years. Why I started smoking? My friends in high school smoked, and I smoked.

I guess 20 years. I thought it was cool.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been smoking about seven years. It was just a random decision on a night and I just continued after that.

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John

Ray

Steven

I started smoking seven years ago, I guess. I wanted to be cool, yeah, like everyone else.

I started smoking when I was eight. I started smoking because I seen it in my sisters ashtray.

I started smoking when I was ten. Started smoking because everybody around me was smoking.

194

Dave

Greg

Beth

I started smoking when I was 18 and the actual reason for me to start smoking, I was working at a movie theater and a girl I liked was a smoker. She was a smoker and kept stepping out for smoking breaks and I figured that was my only opportunity to talk to her.

I started smoking when I was about 18. I am 26 right now and I started smoking because it was the thing to do at that age. Kind of just stuck with it and hopefully I will quit soon.

I am 30, I have been smoking since I was 15 because my mom smoked.

195