Smoking mad

I had a great time at the Counting Crows concert last Saturday in Indianapolis. Everything was pleasant: mild, sunny weather; enjoyable music, fun company, air full of disease and cancerous chemicals.\nWhat?\nBloomington has spoiled me because, as it turns out, not every venue, restaurant or city is smoke-free. I'd nearly forgotten this until the concert experience was spoiled for me due to lack of sufficient breathable air.\nI understand that complaining about secondhand smoke is a stale (but still valid and winning) argument: Why should others have to suffer so a smoker can feed his/her addiction? I won't go there, because we all know of the ample evidence that secondhand smoke contains the same cancer-causing agents as that inhaled by a smoker, and can cause the same diseases. The Surgeon General officially attested to this last week, but it's been well-researched for decades.\nMore troubling, the Associated Press reported Monday that tobacco alone is predicted to be the primary cause of death for one billion people worldwide. One. Billion.\nThus, it boggles my mind that there still seems to be a prevalence of cigarette smoking among young people. In this case, by "young" I mean my peers, or people in their late teens or early 20s. From where I was sitting on the lawn at the concert, I seemed to be in the minority being a non-smoker (and not only of cigarettes ... but that's a whole other column.)\nDid we not all grow up with (perhaps less-than-effective) D.A.R.E. programs? Or, at least, some sort of drug awareness program aimed at children? What about those "White Lies" or "Truth" anti-tobacco campaigns pervading television? And I remember being horrified at the sight of blackened lungs in my high school health class -- not that I believe in using fear as an educational tool.\nRegardless, it seems to me that everyone in my age group should be aware of at least some of the devastating consequences of nicotine use.\nIf this is false, I'm happy to dispense the information: \n1) According to the American Cancer Society Web site, cigarette use kills more Americans than alcohol, car accidents, suicide, AIDS, homicide and illegal drugs combined.\n2) Cigarette smoking can cause cancer of: the lungs, larynx, oral cavity, pharynx (throat), esophagus, bladder, pancreas, liver uterine cervix, kidney, stomach, colon and rectum and some forms of leukemia.\n3) Among the 4,000 individual compounds that have been identified in tobacco and tobacco smoke, 60 are cancer-causing agents.\nOn the other hand, those who quit by age 35 avoid 90 percent of the risk due to tobacco use. It's never too late to quit.\nMy goal is not to make anyone feel guilty, and I'm not calling smokers bad people. Also, I acknowledge that there are more pressing issues in the world to consider and advocate (I believe there's a war on?). \nStill, a person cannot make any meaningful contribution to society if they're coughing up their lungs in a hospital bed. \nCandy is yummier than cigarettes anyway.