All the causes of teen recruitment listed by anti-anti-smoker McFadden are correct, but one additional cause may be the most important: marijuana prohibition. Why? In ascending order, B. It deprives kids attracted (by advertising or whatever) to smoking of an alternative non-addictive herb to experiment with instead of hot-burning overdose nicotine cigarets, and WORSE, A. It effectively suppresses the vaporizer, the single-toke utensil (one-hitter) and any safer, non-overdose smoking or ingestion method which could supplant the 700-mg. overdose paper roll cigaret which is Big Tobackgo's No. 1 mainstay of their profit margin. Such devices are dangerous for a youngster to possess because they can lead to accusations of illegal cannabis use. Imagine getting your $600 Volcano vaporizer confiscated by some rogue cop. This police-state anti-cannabis regime may be the one thing that keeps Big Tobackgo going. Political note: a website, I think TobaccoFreeKids (May 2008), listed campaign contributions to Presidential candidates. Giuliani, famous for arresting cannabis users, got the most tobacco money.

Odd. I thought it was seeing smoking in movies that prompted kids to smoke. Or that it was because cigarettes weren't taxed enough. Or that it was because there weren't enough smoking bans. Or that it was because the stingy states were keeping the Big Tobacco money from the Master Settlement Agreement for themselves instead of laundering it and passing it on to antismoking groups. Or because cigarettes/cigars were ggiven candy and menthol flavors? Or because kids saw the cigarettes displayed on power walls in stores? Or because it's so easy for kids to use their credit cards to order internet cigarettes? Or because their parents smoked? Or because they've been "smoking" umpteen packs a day in secondhand smoke since they were babies. Amazing how the story changes depending on what scam the antismoking lobbyists happen to be pushing on a given day, isn't it? Michael J. McFadden Author of "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains"

Jeanne, I was thinking the same thing. ichoosefreedom, the liklihood that someone will become addicted to tobacco after their first iniation is very high for many folks who have the addiction gene. I've not yet heard of the correlation between reading porn and becoming a porn star. You may want to look at correlates to that in relation to sexual abuse. Much more interesting...and much less humorous than your post.

Amazing. How many kids have access to matches and lighters? Their parents should be warned to talk to their children, as they may be potential pyromaniacs. Do any of them have access to Dad's Penthouse? They might become porn stars. Give me a break.

I wonder if this work could be extended to alcohol and other drugs? If easy access and peer use are predictors for smoking, should this not covey to other substances of abuse?