I think smoking is nasty, especially for girls, because it makes them look and smell nasty. I don't know why people pay all that money everyday for years and years and years to slowly decrease their health.
--Chasity, 13, Las Vegas, NV

I started smoking when I was 10, and I did not start 'cause everybody else was doing it. I did it 'cause my mom said it delivered her stress, so then I started smoking and I got hooked. Well, I quit smoking last year, and was just going to say that you can't me any one stop smoking. They have to want to, otherwise they're going to keep smoking.
--Joseph, 14, OK

It's gross and it's bad for you, and your breath stinks and it just isn't cool.
--LeAnn, 15, Las Vegas, NM

I think that the major icons of sexy, cool, beautiful, life, and personality all include a cigarette (in the 20th century). In that way, it's cool, and in no other. We can blame it on who we like, but it is everybody who perpetuated it. It is a stereotype that many wish were abolished, but has so much history, it would be hard.
--Alexandra, 17, New York, NY

I've been smoking for about 3 years now. Yes, I do admit that it was peer pressure that caused me to do it, but I quit for a while and then started back. When I started back, it was MY CHOICE. Now, I'm a regular smoker and I go through almost a half a pack a day. You know what, if teenagers smoke then that is their decision. I'm tired of all the heat that teenagers get for smoking at a young age. Leave it alone, people! Just chill. Teenagers aren't as dumb as people think they are. They can make their own decision. Quit trying to make decisions for us.
--Jessica, 15, Jesup, GA

I don't think it's cool - it's definitely a bad habit.
--Emma, 16, Mt. Kisco, NY

Smoking is GROSS! It's such a lame excuse to say your friends made you start smoking! I've got a ton of friends who smoke and I haven't even tried to. Just because your friends say it's cool, doesn't mean it is. I mean, if your friend jumped off a bridge...would you?
--Leigh, 15, Hacketstown, NJ

I don't think image should matter as much as it does, but if someone wants to or doesn't want to, no one will care either way.
--Juli, 17, Bedford, NY

I think smoking makes a person look ugly. I think very badly of the Tobacco Industry so I am against cigarettes.
--Jameela, 20, Philadelphia, PA

It stains your teeth, gives you bad breath and bad body odor. It's not good to be addicted to anything and especially something that will kill you.
--Edward, 20, Paramus, NJ

I think it's very uncool to smoke. I never met my Grandfather because lung cancer ended his life before I was born. I can't imagine why someone would want to replace the oxygen in their lungs with smoke and tar. I'm lucky that I was never pressured into smoking by my friends. But, I'd like to remind teens who DO smoke: it's an image. The rebellion, the coolness, the sophistication - it's all a big advertisement. The reality is much more brutal - stained teeth, brittle nails, dull skin, hacking cough, drug addiction, and eventually, lung cancer and heart disease.
--Mirjam, 20, Morristown, NJ

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