When I was a growing teenager myself, I remember trying out all sorts of stuff.
Sneaking into cinemas, shoplifting, smoking, watching porno etc.
I gotta admit, one of the poorest choice of vice I'd picked up was smoking.
I remembered nicking a stick from mum's cigarette box whenever she was out.
That was when I was 13 going on 14.
Though I didn't really become a habitual smoker until I was 18 when I was mugging for my A Levels, these nasty tobacco devils did get stuck with me throughout my 2.5 years of National Service in the Army.
I saw the prices of cigarettes rise from S$1.80 to S$3.20 for a pack of 10s and it became to only being sold in large packs of 20s. Despites the new unsightly images compulsorily printed on cigarette boxes, warnings of tobacco/nicotine affecting lung/heart's health, it didn't seem to deter young adults like myself then.
To date, a pack of 20s will set you back about S$11.60 in Singapore.
By raising the costs of cigarettes, the government aims to deter young folks from ever picking up the habit, but other than increasing the revenue of taxes collected from cigarette manufacturers, there doesn't seem to be a reduction of smokers of the young adults age group.
What gives me real apprehension is the recent news I'd read about in my RSS reader.
Kids in US of A are not smoking cigarettes or cannabis but the latest trend is to smoke "Chocolate Smarties" or the equivalent of our "M&Ms" here.
Is rising cigarettes cost the issue or is it merely young kids being adventurous?
Whichever the reason, it makes no sense. But the young is usually branded with being "dumb".
Someone once said, in order to be "old and wise", one has to be "young and dumb".
My personal advice is to make sure one survive the "young and dumb" stage in order to enjoy the fruits of being "old and wise"
Today is 12th April 2009
Time now is 10:30 hrs
