The most common motives are to appear grown up, to imitate elders, often parents or older brothers or sisters, to rebel against authority or to be the same as others in their peer group. These motives are often contradictory, but smoking is not essentially a rational decision. Unfortunately, the average starting age for smoking has continued to drop. Consistently, studies show that smoking cigarettes varies in inverse ratio to education and income. The decline in the prevalence of smoking has stopped.
Statistics show that the overall prevalence of smoking remains stable.
Far too many people started smoking, influenced by family, friends and tobacco marketing to believe that smoking is a desirable, adult behaviour. Tobacco is the only palnt that contains nicotine, a powerful psychoactive drug. Inhaling cigarette smoke, the smoker gets an immediate concentrated dose of nicotine in his blood stream. It is now generally recognized by experts in this field that nicotine is capable of producing dependence. Though it often makes novice smokers ill, it also produces relaxing, stimulating, or other pleasurable or rewarding effects in the user.