Hello Susan and John:

Susan, you are right in your observation about most social circles now in regards to smoking. The one group that does face pressures still are younger people--and John, your recollections of the old Navy days still have relevance.

I was doing a little consulting work with the Navy a few years ago. They had initiated the total smoking ban in boot camps. Recruits would come in to basic training, be totally off cigarettes for 6 weeks I think, and then surveyed a few months later to see if they actually had lower smoking rates. The theory was, kids who got addicted when in high school or elementary school, now had the chance to detox and were then free to choose.

It sounded good in theory that there should have been a noticeable drop in smoking rates. In fact, the opposite was found--within a few months of time in the service there were actually more smokers than who originally enlisted.

The 18 to 24 year old age group has the highest smoking rates at this time in the United States. It is apparent that there still is some kind of pressure on these young people to smoke. In the military they seem to have felt that some of the pressure was coming from the training schools after basic training. The feeling was that many of the older instructors were still smoking, and one of the ways for the newer recruits to spend time with the instructors and maybe even win some favor was by sharing the cigarette breaks with them. I suspect this factor along with the one John points out such as the extra breaks for the smokers may be factors influencing the increased smoking trends.

Whether any specific person here has pressure on him or her to smoke or not to smoke, it still comes down to each individual's decision. The decision must be based on the available options--to smoke full-fledged until cigarettes eventually cripple and then kills you or to stay free from the total control that nicotine exerted on you in the past. If your choice is to stay free you must always remember to never take another puff!

Joel