You Are a Bette!

   I'm sure everyone has noticed how hard the Health Care System is trying to make everyone quit smoking. That nasty little habbit thats been around for as long as everyone remembers. They make all convience stores block view of the packs on the shelves. They make laws such as not being able to smoke within 10 meters of a public entrance and, the lastest law, your not aloud to smoke in your vehicle if your accomanied by your children under the age of 16. They put disgusting warning labels on all packs of cigarettes. I can go on and on. The reasoning behind all of this is to prevent health problems for themselves and others. Basically everyone. But are they really trying to help?

If your a smoker or someone who's quit, you should know how hard it is to give up this habbit that we rely on to get us by day to day. It's definitly one of the hardest thing anyone can do. But, now they have medication, gum, patches, etc to help. BUT -- there is one condition to that. Is the Healt Care System trying to help the wrong age group? I have a little story i want to share..  It's the best way i can stress this matter that i am EXTREMELY upest, angry, basically in disbeleif about.

First, i would like to give a breif discription of how smoking has impacted my life.

My name's Samanthaa. I started smoking when i was 11. I was outside with my cousin and a few friends. Our friends were smoking and asked us if we wanted a 'drag'. I said no, but my cousin really wanted to. I told her that i wouldn't say anything but she insisted that i should do it. I repeated myself about 20 times - no -  But then she said that if i didn't she would tell my mom that i was smoking and she wasn't. So, of coarse being 11 .. i believed she would. As much as people like to say, "all you have to say is no". At a young age .. saying no to your friends is basically almost as hard as quitting. Anyways, that's all it took. One drag, One threat, and One Cigarette. I'm now 18 and i'm still hooked. I've tried to quit plenty of times. But it just didn't happen. (I give props to those cold turkey people out there!) Which leads me to my story ..  When i was 17, my mother and I were driving around, doing arrunds, and i heard something on the radio. It was the local health unit stateing that they were trying to help people quit smoking. They would give you, for free, the patch and settions to talk to someone about how everythings working. So, i went to the health unit and they brought me into the room. Before they asked me anything, they got me to breath into a pipe thing to see how strong my lungs were. Obviously, after smoking for 6 years, they weren't very strong. They informed me that if i didn't quit smoking i would be breathing through an oxygen tank by the time i was 30. Then they asked me my age. I told them i was 17 and this was the responce i got.. "Oh .. well, i'm sorry but we can't give you this treatment. We can only offer it to people of age. Which is 19. Sorry".  I was SHOCKED! Literally, no joke, i freaked. How could the Health Care System, which is trying to 'help' people quit smoking, refuse to help?!

Which is when i realized that they don't understand how many young people are actually smoking these days. Over 65% of the smoking population is under the age of 19. Do they understand that they still have their future? They have a better chance of quitting with help? Just because we're underage doesn't mean we don't want or need help. It doesn't mean that we're not addicted. I mean, just because there's a legal drinking age .. doesn't mean that younger aged people aren't drinking. You know, it's like denying someone to rehab?! I honestly do not understand how people can say their trying to HELP when the turn people down? I just want someone to explain this to me.. Because quite frankly .. i'm pretty disappointed.