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Editor: C. Calvin Warriner
Profession: Cigarette & Tobacco Attorney

Category: Cigarettes

If only all children could be like those in Greenland, Big Tobacco's profits would soar above all expectations. As of the year 2000 in Greenland, 6% of all females and 3% of all males eleven (11) years of age smoked; but it gets better.

Just wait a couple of years, and presto, 41% of all females and 29% of all males thirteen (13) years old were smoking, and, after sprinkling a bit of magic dust, by the time the same population reached age 15, 63% of females and 52% of males were smoking in anticipation of celebrating sweet sixteen.

It is a well-known fact that adolescents who smoke can look forward to retardation in lung growth, high phlegm production, leading to an increase in the number and severity of respiratory illnesses, and a decrease in lung function. As of 2003 in the United States, 4.5 million adolescents were smoking, and 800,000 individuals under the age of 18 years were joining the ranks of regular smokers, annually; that's nearly 2000 per day. If this rate of increase were to continue, we could look forward to losing about 6.4 million children, who would die prematurely from a smoking related disease. Even today, 5.5% of eighth graders smoke daily. Adolescents who have smoked as little as five packs report that they would like to quit, but they can't. And there is a correlation between smoking and higher incidents of using alcohol and drugs.

There is evidence that those who take up smoking before they are 20 years old have the highest incidence and onset of coronary heart disease and high blood pressure. Fatty buildup in arteries begin in childhood, and smoking increases that buildup.

However, children do not have to live in Greenland to enjoy the hazards of smoking. In the United states, today, even after all the controversy, warnings, and lawsuits to date, a whopping 59% of American children ages four (4) that's right...4 - 11 are exposed to secondhand smoke at home. Is there any wonder why incidents of childhood bronchitis, pneumonia and asthma continue to be on the rise? Asthma is now the leading chronic disease among American children. And according to US Government Data (HCUP Fact Book No 4),

Respiratory conditions are the most common reason for non-neonatal, non-maternal hospitalizations among children (pediatric illness). Pneumonia, asthma, and acute bronchitis account for 1 in 5 hospitalizations for pediatric illness. Asthma and pneumonia remain among the top 10 reasons for hospitalizations among all pediatric age groups.

Even if everyone stopped smoking today, we would still be left with millions of people suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer. We in the USA and elsewhere around the globe must avoid the situation reported in Greenland.. We have to send Big Tobacco a message that things are no longer as $green$ in America as they are in Greenland...and just thinking about all of this once in a while should make it easy to conclude that...

There ought to be a penalty.