Smoking Cessation: A Difficulty for Teenagers

The percentage of the population of teenagers who smoke is alarming. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC, the total percentage of teenagers who smoke reached twenty percent in 2007 and it has steadily grown during the past five years. Of course, this is an alarming situation since health care professionals have already presented the threats and risks involved in smoking. Adults alone who are addicted to tobacco obtain serious diseases such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and such. Moreover, the American Lung Associated revealed that the death rate for individuals who smoke in America reaches the threshold of hundred thousands.

The threats and risks associated to smoking and addiction, especially for teenagers, are crucial matters. Therefore, there is a need to provide them some means to assist them in quitting the habit. Some teenagers who are hooked up to smoking admit they want to quit. However, peer pressure, temptation, and addiction are stopping them from leading healthy lifestyles and there are not much resources or tools available to help them in this area. This problem is intensified by the age limitations of over-the-counter or prescription drugs and other paraphernalia formulated for the purpose of smoking cessation. Apparently, individuals below the age of 18 are prohibited from purchasing them.

Since the need to stop teenagers from smoking has become an urgent need, society has come up with a solution that they can depend on - that is, the existence of support groups. The American Lung Association came up with the idea of support groups, targeting the vulnerability of the adolescent population to addiction and their lack of resources and tools to deal with it. Led by school counselors who closely work with students, the support group allows teenagers to speak their minds about their addiction and handle the problem constructively as a group.

References

• Fortin, J. (2008). Teens Have Fewer Aids for Kicking the Habit. Retrieved November 18, 2008, from Cable News Network. Website:http://edition.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/family/11/17/teen.smoking.help/index.html