by Amanda Piper

Created on: April 16, 2008

Once upon a time breakfast consisted of real eggs, bacon, sausage, and french toast swimming in real maple syrup. Mom was constantly saying you looked so thin and hungry, and would rush off to make you some food. Every dinner was served with potatoes and gravy, and deep fried chicken was an American favorite. Dessert consisted of home made chocolate cake or apple pie. After dinner Dad would retire to the sitting room with a pipe in his mouth and a newspaper in his hand while the children sat nearby watching television.

Fast forward a couple decades to today's society, where a chubby child is no longer healthy but "obese", dinners are microwavable and are typically eaten in front of the television. Welcome to 2008, where everything comes with health risks, and smoking is practically illegal, or at least seems that way. Due to health risks smoking as been banned from any public building, including bars and restaurants in most states. New York state recently passed a law forbidding smoking in a vehicle with children in it.

I am a smoker. I began smoking at the age of fourteen. My parents were smokers, all their friends who came to our house smoked around me and in my home. Nothing was thought of it at the time. My mother wasn't told that it could be dangerous to smoke while pregnant. She wasn't told I could suffer health problems if she smoked around me. I don't remember being sick very often as a child. I didn't often get ear infections, I never had asthma. I am still healthy today. I catch a common cold far less frequently than my husband.

Now, I am not trying to say there's nothing wrong with smoking. I am not by any means condoning it, especially while pregnant, and/or around children. Smoking is an unhealthy and quite nasty habit. As any smoker knows, quitting is much easier said than done, which non-smokers don't seem to understand. There are health risks involved with smoking, and I would not attempt to argue that. However, I choose to believe smoking is being blamed for things it may actually have nothing to do with.

For smokers, any ailment you may suffer from is most likely due to your smoking, at least that's what a doctor would lead you to believe. A non-smoker suffering the same ailment will be told it is likely due to genetics or dietary habits, or any other possible cause. Why is that not the case for smokers? Perhaps it is because it has become so easy for cigarettes to take the blame. Smoking may enhance any particular ailment, but there are many

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