What are the most common reasons people smoke?
If you look at the age at which Americans, and people in the western culture begin to smoke, often it's between 12 and 15 years of age. Now the reason why adolescents smoke is very different from the reason why adults continue to smoke. Adolescents smoke for peer pressure. Adolescents smoke just to experiment. Adolescents smoke to rebel. Adolescents smoke to just fit in with a certain crowd. They smoke to be sophisticated. They smoke because they want to look grown up like an adult. But, once the adolescent crosses a line and has been using tobacco on a regular, daily basis for a period of time, they move over into the next stage. That's where they actually use the substance long enough to develop patterns in their brain to be addicted. Ten percent of adults who use tobacco, can lay tobacco down and not miss it at all, and have no withdrawal symptoms. But 90% of human beings who encounter tobacco on a regular basis become addicted to it. So when you say to someone, "Why do you smoke? What do you like about it?" Most of the time they say, "I like the way it makes me feel." I like it because it helps me relax. I like it because it helps me when I'm at work to be calm, and to be able to focus on my work and stay stimulated. When I'm not smoking, I just feel distracted. I like cigarettes because of the way it makes me feel in my throat. When in reality that's just an association with how it's feeling in your brain. Most people say, "I smoke because I like the way it feels." The other half of the smokers say, "I smoke because I have to. I smoke because I'm used to it. I smoke because it's a habit." They think, but when in reality it's a habit that has turned into a controlling addiction. They really don't have the choice to smoke anymore.
