Kids smoke to be bad, not to be like a camel

Lawyers and politicians are trying to blame cigarette companies for kids smoking so that they can confiscate money from those companies.

Everybody in the US over age 10 knows that cigarettes are a health risk and addictive. Warnings about the evilness of cigarettes only makes them more appetizing to kids. If a cigarette manufacturer came out with a package that had a big warning and skull and cross bones on the package, that brand would quickly become a best seller among young kids starting to smoke.

Even 13 year old kids who choose to smoke know what they are doing. They are using a clear symbol of badness to build an image of independence and adulthood. Kids use cigarettes as symbol to determine who is willing to be bad and do what adults say not to do. I specifically remember thinking how cigarettes would quickly change my image as a "mamas boy" who couldn’t be cool. I knew that smoking a cigarette would have increased my social life possibilities dramatically.

Politicians and lawyers know this and in fact probably remember this same phenomena from their own childhood. But rather than attack the real problem these lawyers and politicians go for the quick buck. Rather than improve schools or start a dialog with kids about making good health decisions cool, they attack cigarette companies. These legal attacks and publicity for cigarettes make smoking even cooler by making it a clear symbol of rebellion against arrogant politicians and lawyers.

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