As a little boy, Shane was frequently ordered by his father to buy a cigarette from the store and light it for him.
At 4 years old, he learned how to puff so the cigarette remains lighted until he hands it to his father.
Picking up the smoking habit became something natural for Shane, or for his five younger brothers.
At 16, Shane said he couldn’t live without cigarettes. Now, at 33, his minimum cigarette consumption is two packs a day. Hearing him cough all the way from his house especially in the dead of the night always gives me the feeling that he was coughing from under the ground.
Shane’s father died last year from lung cancer. At the rate he’s going, Shane could be lying next to his father very soon.
Shane is a neighbor who is just one of the millions of people who started the habit as a second hand smoker. He had no choice when he was in his mother’s womb. He had no choice but breathe in the cigarette smoke-filled environment at home as a young child. When he grew old enough to have a choice not to pick up the habit, it was too late. The early training was instilled in his system.
Shane could be your little brother at home, your niece or nephew at school, or Shane could be you.
The difference is you now have a choice to protect your children from second hand smoke, and eventually from this vicious habit.
Risks to children
Second hand smoke is just as dangerous for everyone, especially children. Studies have shown that individuals who are exposed to secondhand smoke gets the same exposure to tar, nicotine, cyanide, methane, carbon monoxide and other chemicals that causes cancer.
The lungs of small children are not yet fully developed and this doubles the harm of second hand smoking for them.
If you can’t stop smoking, try to smoke outside your house or away from the children and don’t allow your visitors to smoke in your house, too. Don’t smoke in the car, and take your children only to smoke-free restaurants and establishments.
The health risks of second-hand smoke are just too great. Research shows that about 300,000 cases of bronchitis and pneumonia in children each year are caused by second hand smoke. Statistics show that second hand smoke results to at least 38,000 deaths in the U.S. every year, and causes over one million illnesses in children.
Kids who are exposed to second hand smoke have more allergies, colds, asthma attacks and ear infections.
The U.S. Surgeon General states that secondhand smoke exposure causes respiratory symptoms, including cough, phlegm, wheeze and breathlessness among school-aged children.
Dr. Jack Hardy, senior advisor for the Commonwealth Cancer Association said that protecting the young people from tobacco addiction and exposure to secondhand smoke should be one of our highest priorities as a community.
“Prevention saves lives,” Hardy said.
CCA is a local nonprofit organization dedicated to cancer awareness, prevention, and support services in the CNMI.
If you think that you have a right to smoke, the people around you also have a right not to breathe cigarette smoke-filled air.
5th Kick Butts Day
Today, you have a choice to kick out the butts from your life. By trying to quit smoking or even thinking of trying to quit, you have already taken the first step toward curbing this bad habit that has raked in billions of dollars for the cigarette industry magnates but has claimed billions of lives each day from all over the world.
The staggering results of statistics conducted by the CNMI Public School System on the Risk Behavior Survey for the youth in the last nine years showed the CNMI is among the highest youth smoking rates in the nation.
Today, take a stand and join thousands of other people throughout the nation who will take an action to fight youth tobacco use as part of the National Kick Butts Day Initiative.
A lot of activities are set for today on Saipan spearheaded by the CCA beginning by a parade at 2 p.m. from San Antonio Basketball Court to Hopwood Junior High School. A program with exhibits and entertainment will follow.
2010 CNMI Kick Butts Day chairman Ricky Itibus is inviting public and private schools to participate and show banners to take a stand against the harmful effects of tobacco.
This is the 15th national annual Kick Butts Day and the fifth annual Kick Butts Day for the CNMI.
Visit www.kickbuttsday.org for more information about the National Kick Butts Day Initiative.
Where to go for help
For more information about the benefits of quitting smoking and successful strategies for doing so, call the CNMI Community Guidance Center’s Quitline at 323-QUIT.
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