Think About It

If your crowd is one in which the majority of members do not smoke, you may have no difficulty deciding against it. But if your friends do smoke, you may have more trouble making up your mind. It’s difficult to be different, especially when you are in your teens. As you come to realize that people do accept you as an individual, you won’t have to “go along with the gang” in everything they do.

As an individual, you may recognize that it’s important to do some careful thinking before making up your mind about smoking. Consider all the advantages and disadvantages. If you realize fully what you are getting into, and still feel that it’s worth it, at least you will know what to expect. If, after weighing the evidence, you decide that it’s simpler not to start smoking, your definite decision will help you when you have to refuse a cigarette.

“No, Thank You”

When people smoke, they feel it’s courteous to offer others cigarettes. You do not have to accept if you don’t want to. At the same time, you can refuse politely, without making any remarks about cigarette addiction. A simple “No, thank you” is sufficient. When people offer cigarettes to others it’s just a casual, almost mechanical, gesture, and a refusal is hardly noticed. If you feel that an explanation is needed, you can simply say that you don’t smoke. Regardless of how strongly you feel about smoking, it’s better not to condemn others.

THE PROBLEM OF NARCOTICS

Some teen-agers have parties specifically planned for smoking. Especially if their parents disapprove, they may feel the need for smoking secretly. It gives them a thrill to know they’re doing something their parents disapprove of behind their backs.

This attitude is very immature, and such parties can be dangerous. The teen-agers who attend them are easy prey to dope peddlers who “contribute” marijuana. Young people may be tempted to try a “reefer.” They have been promised an immediate emotional sensation. It may be very hard to refuse “just one” when everyone else is experimenting. Of course if the peddlers believed that it would remain at “just one,” they wouldn’t distribute “free” samples. They know that many of the people who say “just one” will continue taking “just one more.”

Smoking marijuana is a first step toward dope addiction. Soon the marijuana is not enough, and young people are compelled by an insatiable craving to go on to heroin or other more potent drugs. Once you are “hooked” it is almost impossible to stop without long hospitalization and treatment.

Former policewoman Lois Lundell Higgins reports that juvenile addicts spend over $250,000 a day on narcotics. Addicts go to any extreme to obtain money for more dope. They steal and get involved with criminal gangs. Even morally sensitive people get into real trouble when they are under the influence. When in need of a “fix,” nothing else matters; they will go to any lengths to get it. “Playing around” with dope is courting serious physical and emotional damage!