Life in the United States - Essay Example

Despite the current law enforcement strategies and awareness programs, the issue has turned out to be a serious behavioral problem among adolescents. As per the findings of Holm et al (27), 80% of all smokers in the United States begin smoking even before the age of 18. With the increased threat to health and personal integrity, the prohibition of teenage smoking has become the most essential legal concern. In the United States, there is no unified regulation on this issue and the minimum age restriction varies from state to state. Although ‘18’ is generally accepted as the minimum age, the decision is subject to the discretion of states. According to the statistics of the National Cancer Institute, tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the United States. The illness includes cancers of the throat, mouth, nasal cavity, stomach, kidney, etc. The study also says that “smokers are six times more likely to suffer a heart attack than non-smokers” and ‘in 2009 around 20.6 percent of U.S. adults were cigarette smokers’ (National Cancer Institute).