15 and smoking - Page 2

[A&A]

One of my concerns with smoking is that it could turn into smoking pot, which could turn into harder drugs, which could actually end up with meth destroying your life (read the book Beautiful Boy)

I don't think any addict out there didn't start with cigarettes.

[serenbat]

I don't think any addict out there didn't start with cigarettes.

ahhhhhhh-NO, so utterly untrue


there are MANY out there that never smoked anything and are totally addicted to legal drugs (prescription and others) of all types

regarding how the 15 year old- some start and never stop, others it's just a phase

[MusicianDad]

Originally Posted by A&A

One of my concerns with smoking is that it could turn into smoking pot, which could turn into harder drugs, which could actually end up with meth destroying your life (read the book Beautiful Boy)

I don't think any addict out there didn't start with cigarettes.

Uh huh...

Lets see, cigarettes are not a gateway to pot and pot is not a gateway to harder drugs.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I am going to be totally honest here. If I found out either of mine where smoking they would go NO WHERE without me except school and the school would be informed that they where to be watched at all times. Yes at the school here that is possible. Some bigger schools it might not be but thankfully that wont be a problem here. Shoot I would even drive to school during their lunch break to watch them myself.

I can hear the eyes rolling out there but I am serious. Until they turn 18 or show me they can be trusted not to smoke they go no where that they cant be watched. This is their very life we are talking about here not just something to let go.

I did try smoking when I was a teen but back then there was a place to smoke on the high school campus just for us kids. : Thank the good Lord I came to my senses and it was just an experiment but for many of my friends it wasnt

I have been teaching both my kids about smoking and how horrible it is. I will continue to do so and hope it sticks and I wont have to deal with it later.

[A&A]

Originally Posted by MusicianDad

Uh huh...

Lets see, cigarettes are not a gateway to pot and pot is not a gateway to harder drugs.

I respectfully disagree.

[A&A]

Originally Posted by serenbat

there are MANY out there that never smoked anything and are totally addicted to legal drugs (prescription and others) of all types

I was talking about addictions to illegal drugs. I don't know of any addicts of illegal drugs who didn't start with cigarettes and pot.

[MusicianDad]

Originally Posted by A&A

I was talking about addictions to illegal drugs. I don't know of any addicts of illegal drugs who didn't start with cigarettes and pot.

Addiction is addiction no matter what.

The "pot as a gateway drug" theory has been disproven.

Millions of people smoke cigarettes and have never touched pot or anyother drug.

[MusicianDad]

Originally Posted by A&A

I was talking about addictions to illegal drugs. I don't know of any addicts of illegal drugs who didn't start with cigarettes and pot.

There is a pot thread in parenting that has outlined the logical fallacy of that statement in relation to pot being a gateway drug.

[LVale]

Originally Posted by MCatLvrMom2A&X

I am going to be totally honest here. If I found out either of mine where smoking they would go NO WHERE without me except school and the school would be informed that they where to be watched at all times. Yes at the school here that is possible. Some bigger schools it might not be but thankfully that wont be a problem here. Shoot I would even drive to school during their lunch break to watch them myself.

I can hear the eyes rolling out there but I am serious. Until they turn 18 or show me they can be trusted not to smoke they go no where that they cant be watched. This is their very life we are talking about here not just something to let go.

I did try smoking when I was a teen but back then there was a place to smoke on the high school campus just for us kids. : Thank the good Lord I came to my senses and it was just an experiment but for many of my friends it wasnt

I have been teaching both my kids about smoking and how horrible it is. I will continue to do so and hope it sticks and I wont have to deal with it later.

I have to disagree with you, respectfully. I would not ever follow my teen around, because he or she was smoking. You can give them all the info you want, then it is up to them to make the choice. May I ask you a question, did your parents follow you at every venue in your teen years? Oh by the way, I am not a newbie, our sons are 28 and 31, and are non smokers. But guess what I am. I told my sons point blank about smoking, all the horror stories, etc. You need to get a grip. If you micromanage every thing in your teens life, that is not cool. They will resent you for it.

[LVale]

Originally Posted by MusicianDad

Addiction is addiction no matter what.

The "pot as a gateway drug" theory has been disproven.

Millions of people smoke cigarettes and have never touched pot or anyother drug.

Thank you for pointing that out, Yes I smoke those so nasty cigs. But gee I don't do drugs and I am 48 years old. And I know numerous pot smokers who have never done hard drugs. And these pot smokers are in their 50's and 60's, oh the horror! LOL!

[Mama2Jesse]

I watched my Papa die because he smoked. I was four years old. Woke up to the EMT's pounding through the house, got out of bed went into his room. And I have to stop because I don't like to think about it.

If that wasn't enough, I helped my father recover from a bypass at 37. Heavy smoker. Bypasses, um, HURT. For a long time. Not something I would want someone I love to go through.

DH picked up the habit at fourteen. His mom caught him, so decided to make him smoke a carton. Well, DH hadn't been inhaling the smoke, she made him inhale it. He smoked for ten years. Quit as my nineteenth birthday present. :

I seriously would do anything in my power to keep a young person away from the cancer sticks. That, to me, is as dangerous as if they were going out drinking and driving home. Only more drawn out and painful.

My heart goes out to you, mama... but fight for your kid, even when they're too young and dumb to appreciate it. No, ESPECIALLY when they're young and dumb.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Originally Posted by LVale

I have to disagree with you, respectfully. I would not ever follow my teen around, because he or she was smoking. You can give them all the info you want, then it is up to them to make the choice. May I ask you a question, did your parents follow you at every venue in your teen years? Oh by the way, I am not a newbie, our sons are 28 and 31, and are non smokers. But guess what I am. I told my sons point blank about smoking, all the horror stories, etc. You need to get a grip. If you micromanage every thing in your teens life, that is not cool. They will resent you for it.

No they didnt but they didnt need to when they found out about the smoking I had already tried it and stopped and told them so. Had I still been smoking they would have been well within their rights to follow me to make sure I ddnt do it any more.

The only two issue I would do what I said on is smoking and drugs. Other than that I would think of micromanaging like that. But to me this issue is one that I have no give at all on. They can resent me all they want for it but at least I would be doing my job and keeping them safe until they are no longer in my care.

Yes kids need to make their own choices as long as those choices do not threaten their lives. If they cant make the right ones then it is my job as a parent to make the decisions for them until they are capable of doing it themselves. Some teenagers are capable of making the right choices and are very mature while others are still very much children.

[MusicianDad]

Originally Posted by MCatLvrMom2A&X

No they didnt but they didnt need to when they found out about the smoking I had already tried it and stopped and told them so. Had I still been smoking they would have been well within their rights to follow me to make sure I ddnt do it any more.

The only two issue I would do what I said on is smoking and drugs. Other than that I would think of micromanaging like that. But to me this issue is one that I have no give at all on. They can resent me all they want for it but at least I would be doing my job and keeping them safe until they are no longer in my care.

Yes kids need to make their own choices as long as those choices do not threaten their lives. If they cant make the right ones then it is my job as a parent to make the decisions for them until they are capable of doing it themselves. Some teenagers are capable of making the right choices and are very mature while others are still very much children.

If you make descisions for them when they can't make the "right" ones, how are they ever going to learn to make the right ones?

People make mistakes and learn from their mistakes.

Plus maturity does equal not making mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. It's an inevitable part of living life.

[churndash]

Originally Posted by MusicianDad

If you make descisions for them when they can't make the "right" ones, how are they ever going to learn to make the right ones?

People make mistakes and learn from their mistakes.

Plus maturity does equal not making mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. It's an inevitable part of living life.

I wouldn't give my kid a loaded gun and let her "learn from her mistake".

All there is to learn from smoking is how to become addicted to nicotine and destroy your body. This is not a learning experience, this is life and death.

Smoking = death as far as I'm concerned. I would no more sit back and do nothing while she smoked than I would sit back and watch her slit her wrists.

You can disagree all you want, it is my kid and my choice. I would do ANYTHING humanly possibly to make my child stop smoking.

Really there is nothing anyone could ever possibly say to change my mind on this topic, so we'll have to agree to disagree.

[SandraS]

Originally Posted by A&A

One of my concerns with smoking is that it could turn into smoking pot, which could turn into harder drugs, which could actually end up with meth destroying your life (read the book Beautiful Boy)

I don't think any addict out there didn't start with cigarettes.

And my baby will NEVER leave my family bed.

Your statement can't be more wrong.

[gini1313]

Originally Posted by churndash

I wouldn't give my kid a loaded gun and let her "learn from her mistake".

All there is to learn from smoking is how to become addicted to nicotine and destroy your body. This is not a learning experience, this is life and death.

Smoking = death as far as I'm concerned. I would no more sit back and do nothing while she smoked than I would sit back and watch her slit her wrists.

You can disagree all you want, it is my kid and my choice. I would do ANYTHING humanly possibly to make my child stop smoking.

Really there is nothing anyone could ever possibly say to change my mind on this topic, so we'll have to agree to disagree.

Until people see cigarettes in this way, there will always be this disagreement. I honestly see people smoking and am shocked that people stills smoke, after all we know about how bad it is for you.

I work in critical care and smoking kills. A slow and painful death of suffocation. It hurts and people can't breathe. It is horrible. They are in and out of ccu for years, over and over and over, because they can't breathe. They are on bipap and intubated over and over. I would also do anything to keep my kids from smoking. I am an ex smoker. Quitting sucks. But not as much as dying from COPD or lung cancer.

Don't just sit back and let your kids smoke. Sometimes you are right, you can't stop them, but fight and do everything in your power to get them to stop. It WILL hurt and it WILL kill them. A loaded gun would be less painful.

[A&A]

Originally Posted by MusicianDad

Millions of people smoke cigarettes and have never touched pot or anyother drug.

You're arguing it backwards. I certainly didn't say that every smoker will advance to any other drug.

However, every meth addict started with cigarettes. There isn't a meth addict out there who never touched a cigarette.



Beyond that, I wanted to say this to the OP:

My MIL didn't really take it seriously when my dh started smoking at 14. She came up with lots of excuses........it's just a phase, it's just being a teenager, it's normal rebellion, it's due to the stress of the divorce of his parents the year prior, etc.

Three decades later, he's still fighting his addiction to cigarettes (even now, with a serious lung problem, he can't quite kick smoking). Maybe, just maybe, if she had gotten him help at that point in time and had taken his smoking seriously, he would have been able to quit then. Just something to think about.

(And, for the record, just in case anyone is wondering, he doesn't smoke in the house or the car.)

[A&A]

Originally Posted by SandraS

And my baby will NEVER leave my family bed.

Your statement can't be more wrong.

[enkmom]

Watching my two sisters smoke, and having interactions with the friends of my older children, I can say with certainty that kids who want to smoke are going to smoke. As parents we can TRY to stop them, but they won't stop unless they want to.

My sisters started smoking at 14 and 16. They started by sneaking cigarettes out of Dad's packs, and then started swiping entire packs. There were always so many cartons around that my parents didn't catch on for a long time. At the time, there were cigarette vending machines around, so they bought them there on the (rare) occasions that a clerk wouldn't sell them to them. When they were desperate, they shoplifted them (they weren't under lock and key like they are now). When they were TRULY desperate, they picked butts out of dad's ashtray and then broke them up and rolled the loose tobacco up in notebook paper. They had friends give them to them at school or on the bus. And scariest of all, they dated older men (the kind you don't bring home to mother) who gladly gave them cigarettes. One of my sisters has since died (not from smoking) and the other has absolutely no desire to quit. She grumbles about the cost, but she enjoys smoking.

I think I just got lucky with my kids. Growing up in a house that my Dad smoked in heavily, I had chronic sore throats and post-nasal drip, and after a one-week "coolness" trial when I was 17 I have never wanted to smoke. I certainly let them know the dangers and begged them to never smoke, but it was clearly their decision - most of my daughters friends smoke, and several of my sons friends do to. If they had wanted to smoke, they would have. I would certainly have tried everything in my power to get them to quit, but I am realistic enough to know that I would have been fighting an uphill battle that I may well have lost.

[2xy]

Originally Posted by A&A

I don't know of any addicts of illegal drugs who didn't start with cigarettes and pot.

How many addicts do you know?

I know two. A former friend of my mother, and an aunt of mine. One is a meth addict, and the other is a cokehead and alcoholic. The meth addict did smoke when he was younger, but doesn't anymore. My aunt has never smoked. She's an asthmatic. She started with booze.