A letter to you from a very smart man.

Hi Friends,

Many of you will be asked that simple question at one time or another. It seems so "cool" to smoke. I can tell you that my mother smoked cigarettes. When I was your age, many of the movies featured stars with cigarettes in their hands. It was only natural that after I left home at 19 and could make rules of my own, I would be "cool" too.
I started smoking, or at least, I thought it was smoking. In the movies, they took a drag on a cigarette, and blew the smoke out of their mouth. That's what I did. Nobody said anything about taking the smoke down into the lungs.

It occurred to me one day that my brand was among the most expensive on the market. And, as a young soldier, I was making very little money. It seemed to me that I would never take money, roll it up, and light it with a match.
Yet everytime I smoked a cigarette, I was doing just that.
I held that thought until I crossed a bridge over a river.
At that moment, I threw the new pack of cigarettes into the water. I never smoked again. Today, a package of cigarettes costs around $2.00 U.S. A carton costs $40.

If a person smokes a pack of cigarettes a day, for 365 days a year, he will have burned $730.00 U.S. We know there are those who smoke two or more packs a day. You do the math. What could you do with that kind of money? How much money would you blow out your nose in ten years?

When your friends ask if you want a cigarette, don't tell them that research shows nicotine is twice as addictive as cocaine. They won't believe you. Don't tell them that smoking can lead to lung cancer and an early death. They aren't interested. They will not be impressed that smokers have damaged lungs,and are more prone to illnesses. Don't try to tell them about the disease emphysema, which deprives the lungs of oxygen, leaving its victims to gasp daily for air, like dying fishes. Once one has heard the repeated deep, rasping, gagging cough of one with emphysema, they not forget it. But your friends don't think it will happen to them.

So what can you say when you are offered a cigarette?
Just tell them the truth: "No, thank you. I don't have money to burn." You will have committed an act of courage; the courage of your convictions.

Best wishes for a long and happy life,
Brad Henderson