by Ted Sherman

Created on: June 09, 2010

Of course, smokers are responsible for what happens to their health when they're addicted by nicotine. Isn't any other addict guilty of destroying a life by the same stupid route? Is a drunken alcoholic responsible for killing someone with his car? That's the bare truth, and no excuses can change the damage nicotine causes to the addict, and too often, to children and other family members who must breathe the toxic smoke.

If the smoker feels all alone in the damning spotlight, maybe he can find some other guilty people to join him. First, there's the tradition of equating the beginning of smoking to some kind of traditional passage from childhood to adult. "Hey, all the other guys are smoking, and I don't want to look like a nerd. Also, it's part of my rebellion against Mom and Dad. I'll just steal a pack of their cigs, go out back with some other neighborhood 12-year-olds and smoke up a storm".

Who shares the blame here for the beginnings of nicotine addiction? The lifestyles of the other kids you run with? Mom and Dad for making smoking such an integral part of their lives, and setting a poor example their kids will follow.

If there's any source at least as guilty as the beginning smoker, it is the tobacco companies. For those 50- and 60-year-old cancer patients now coughing out their final days in hospitals, their teen years were filled with the glory of smoking. Until the early 60s, there were no Surgeon General warnings on cigarette packages, not that it would have made much difference.

Ads extolling the joys of smoking were everywhere, including a giant sign at Times Square in New York, showing a guy actually blowing big billows of smoke out into the air. For those who were in the service, after every exercise or march, there was always the call: smoke 'em if you got 'em. In print ads and TV commercials, popular entertainment and sports stars, including future President Ronald Reagan, showed shining white teeth as they demonstrated how much fun it was to smoke.

At ballparks and for major entertainment events, cigarettes were the major sponsors. On downtown city sidewalks and on college campuses, attractive girls gave out free sample packs of cigarettes. With all of that propaganda and daily exposure perpetrated by the tobacco industry aimed at young people, how could they resist. Of course, they weren't just aiming at adults, but deliberately and slyly indoctrinated children.

There's certainly enough blame to go around for the nicotine addict, his parents and the tobacco industry. However, the blame for any kind of self-destruction must always begin with the desire to take that first mindless step into the abyss.

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