Once you start it's hard to stop

Smoking’s a hard habit to break because tobacco contains nicotine, which is highly addictive. Like heroin or other addictive drugs, your body and mind quickly become so used to the nicotine in cigarettes that you need to have it just to feel normal.

Almost all smokers start as teenagers. Statistics show that about eight out of 10 smokers start before they’re 18 years old. Some young people who smoke say they start because they think it helps them look older (it does – if yellow teeth and wrinkles are the look you want). Others smoke because they think it helps them relax (it doesn’t – your heart actually beats faster while you’re smoking). Some light up as a way to feel rebellious or to set themselves apart (which works if you want your non-smoking friends to move away while you puff). Some start because their friends smoke - or just because it gives them something to do.

Some people, especially girls, start smoking because they think it may help keep their weight down. The illnesses that smoking can cause, like lung diseases or cancer, do cause weight loss – but that’s not a very good way to fit into your clothes!

Another reason people start smoking is because others in their family do. Most people who started smoking in their teens never expected to become addicted. That’s why people say it’s so much easier to not start smoking at all.