They are a credit to their families, school and community. Each year more than 31,000 new cases of oral cancers are diagnosed. Fifty percent of the people with those cancers will die within five years. I have been one of the lucky ones. If anything I may have said to the students convinces just one of them to avoid tobacco, any discomfort I may have had will have been worth it.
Tobacco addiction is the greatest cause of death in our society.
Carbon monoxide, benzene, arsenic, butane, cyanide, formaldehyde, ammonia, methane, radioactive polonium 210 the list goes on and on. It s very important that education about smoking continues. Teen smokers do less well in school and get into more trouble than do their non-smoking counterparts. Also, teen smokers tend not to join clubs, play sports or participate in any other school activities. I congratulate the teachers, guidance counselors especially Judy Cohen and administrators at Searsport Elementary School for their tobacco awareness project, and I hope they will continue this important work.