Ahh. Don't you love fall? The brisk temperatures, the fadingcolor in the leaves, the crisp, smoke-filled air. Doesn't get muchbetter does it? Well, OK, I am sure most of you could do withoutthe smoke-filled air.
The federal government released a statement Wednesday urgingstate governments to put more money into anti-smoking programs.Well that seems like a viable option to get the adult smoking ratedown to 12 percent (the federal government's goal by 2010), butwill pumping money into these programs really change the ideals,convictions and addictions many adults have lived with for thebetter part of their lives?
The way I see it there is really nothing that can be done aboutthe adults that have chosen to smoke and haven't quit yet. Speakingas a smoker, there has yet to be an ad or program that I have seenor participated in that has shown me anything that is drasticenough to get me to quit outright. Yeah I know it is bad for myhealth, and I know that it is a disease-causing habit, but there isreally nothing short of outlawing cigarettes that will get peopleto quit.
That is not saying that I don't want to quit or that I haven'ttried, just as many smokers have, the problem is the adults thatare smoking now are the same that were smoking 10 years ago. Ifthey haven't quit smoking or haven't tried, they probably won't.Smoking is an addiction that is not easily dropped. Just ask any ofyour friends that smoke and have tried to quit. They'll tell youthat it is just so hard to make it through a day without acigarette. It is the one thing they may have to get them away fromthe stress.
States spent a total of $541.1 million on anti-smoking programsin 2003. That was a 28 percent decrease from 2001. So maybe theseprograms would have an effect if the states decided to continuefunding them at the same rate every year. The money going to fundthese programs is supposed to be coming from the excise taxes thatare collected on each pack of cigarettes, but if the money isn'tgoing to these programs, where could it be going? The states arenot asking for more money from the average person, they are usingthe smokers own bad habits to fund the programs. There should be noexcuse for the lack of programs.
It's not that I am saying that smoking is a great thing, ashypocritical as it may sound, smoking is something that I would notwish on my worst enemy, the thing is the government is looking toget adults to quit. That is just not going to happen. It is anearly impossible feat to get the smoking average in a state likeKentucky, which had a 30.8 percent adult smoking rate in 2003, downto 12 percent in five years.
What the government really needs to be pushing, which moststates are, is anti-smoking programs aimed at children. If you arelooking to lower the national average adult smoking rate, startyoung. Granted the goal isn't going to be in the next five years,but it will be met. It may take a decade or two, but the adultsthat do smoke will die or quit, and the children who were allsmarter than me will never start. The push needs to happen now.
Our generation is the one that is shaping the nation to whatkind of world we want to live in, and where we want our children tolive.
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