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As an American from Colorado, the few people I see smoking cigarettes tend to be older folks. Younger people in high school or college by and large do not smoke cigarettes (marijuana is a different story). I think the younger generations don't see smoking cigarettes as cool anymore. Yet in Europe, especially Eastern Europe, it seems that smoking cigarettes is much more prevalent. Does anybody know why?
Colorado is one of the healthiest and fittest states in US. As far as smoking goes, I'd bet that West Virginia and Kentucky in particular are worse off than anyplace in Europe. That being said, as marijuana is now legal in Colorado, why smoke cigarettes there when you can get the "good stuff?"
I can give an opinion on what I see myself.
I have many friends (during school) have tried cigarettes in their youth (11-14 years) due to show off (smoking is cool, and so on). In this position a bad end, as I did not know people who in 23 years do not want to quit. Although of my friends are smoking only 1.
Just came from Paris and was blown away by the amount of smoking I saw. It was everywhere. In Spain now and it is less but still way more than I am used to in California where if you smoke you are an outcast. We saw a group of 20 young kids on lunch break from school and they were all smoking cigs... 13 year old kids! In the US people would be screaming at them. It's clearly a cultural thing and I was very surprised to see so many young people smoking.
This is not worst. That's when smoke was 5 years old - that's scary. My grandfather smoked with that age, for example. Truth and lived for more than 55 years and did not die because of cigarettes.
I have no research to back this up but do you think this is really just a cultural thing? Maybe I've watched too much Mad Men and my mind tends to work this way. Maybe the with the success of the anti smoking movement and vilification of cigarettes in general in America, the tobacco companies decided to focus their advertising dollars in Eastern Europe. Maybe they've created a highly effective campaign that speaks to the youths of these new democracies. The prevailing social attitudes in these former Communist block countries may be similar to what the US had in the 60s. It may take a few decades before they too realize smoking is a killer and does not make you cool.
People are actually letting this go? It's so ignorant and incorrect.
Europe has been a better place to live than the USA for ten or twenty years, had better infrastructure for nearly three decades, better disposable income (with the average healthcare taken out from US that's typical over there), etc.
Smoking is popular in Europe because it just is. It happened. There's no reason why, really.
I love Europe dont get me wrong, but saying Europe is a better place to live than america is ignorant.
The uk is on its own. Thats why I hate it when americans group us up with europe because we dont do half the things they do. Like we dont have siestas and we are just as worked off as americans.
Nonody hardly smokes here anymore, it is only really old people.
GOSH we americans cant know everything we never lived their how would we know that england doesnt have siestas?
Well you see its different in percentages when doing a country with 300 million people and comapring it to countries like the Netherlands or France. Anyway i would call the common, i would say a few in which we all been saying except you.
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