Some 90 percent of all new smokers are children and teens. Every day in America, over 500 children between the ages of 10 and 14 begin using illegal drugs, and over 1,000 start using alcohol. But it can and does. The starting line of prevention is the realization that teen substance abuse is no respecter of age, race, or economic status. Each of the statistics is someone's son or daughter.
Tobacco is often the place where it starts.
The child standing next to us at the soda machine was shorter than my nine year old son Josh. He looked younger than Josh, but the cigarette dangling out of the side of his mouth made me want to believe that he had to be at least 10 or 11. He smoked with the precision and gusto of a 40 year-old. Josh's impolite and mesmerized stare gave away his wonder and curiosity. Two-thirds have started by the time they reach the age of twelve.