Letter | Choice to take on smoking risks should be delayed to age 21

Published 1:30 pm Friday, March 25, 2016

Here are some facts about teen smoking. Physically, the part of the brain involved in decision making (the pre-frontal cortex) is still under construction in teens. It is not fully developed until age 25 or so.

Tobacco companies know this. And that is why they favor getting young people smoking early. They know that if the smoking decision is delayed until age 21, they will lose a lot of these kids as smokers.

Further, cigarette makers add chemicals (e.g. ammonia) that maximize the nicotine dose in order to increase its addictiveness. According to the CDC, “More people in the US are addicted to nicotine than to any other drug. Research suggests that nicotine may be as addictive as heroin, cocaine, or alcohol.”

The argument that smoking should be the individual’s decision ignores the fact that most people smoke not out of choice, but because they are addicted.

Granted, our society allows people to do many things that are harmful, even suicidal, but at the price of great human misery and financial cost. The question is do we want to start our kids early down a self-destructive path that leads to a shortened life filled with suffering?

Knowing that smoking increases the risk of several cancers, heart disease, stroke, COPD, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, etc., why wouldn’t we want kids to wait until they are 21 before making the decision about smoking?

Peter Bullard, Ph.D.

Snoqualmie