By Janai Cunningham

Nicely packaged boxes in pink and green sit on the shelves behind store clerks. A teenager gives the money over to receive a nicotine high, removes the cigarette out of the cardboard box, and holds the flame to the tip of the roll, eager to feel the smoke inflate their lungs.

Studies show that tobacco companies have been attracting young adults in their marketing campaign. The legal age to have possession of tobacco, in Virginia, is 18. In 2007, Camel No. 9 tobacco company packaged their cigarettes in hot-pink and teal-green boxes. Studies showed that this enticed young girls ages 12 to 16 to try their product. The R.J. Reynolds company, which make Camel, insisted that was not their intention.

Senior Lewis Zingaro, Jr. was 14 when he first experienced the sensation of smoking a cigarette.

“My friends and I were bored one day and decided to try it out. Seeing everybody else do it we thought it was a cool thing to do,” Zingaro said.

Tobacco companies spend millions of dollars on advertising campaigns. Visions of glamour and success entice teens to try their cigarette brand. Insecurities that teens experience become a weak point that tobacco companies take advantage of.

Senior Chelsea Traylor was 15 when she first smoked a cigarette.

“It was more peer pressure than anything else. I hung around a bunch of older people that were 18 and did smoke, so they did influence me,” Traylor said. “I think my family also influenced me. My mom smoked and I repeatedly asked her to stop, but she didn’t. It made me think that it wasn’t a big deal.”.

Cigarettes today are pushed more and more into teenagers’ lives. Music videos zoom in on artists smoking and doing drugs. Posters at the local gas station are positioned at a low eye level for kids. It’s becoming less of a taboo and more normal every day.

The school policy states that tobacco products cannot be on school property. This includes in lockers, personal book bags or vehicles in the student parking lot. Also, in a new policy enforced last year, individuals cannot smoke at school functions such as football games and banquets.

“We recently had signs made and put up to make people realize that smoking is not permitted. Many people don’t know and so we’re trying to put the word out,” Officer Butch Pearson said.

Over 4,000 chemicals are wrapped up in each cigarette. Toxins that are used in prison executions, like hydrogen cyanide, and urea, which is found in urine are just two of the thousands of chemicals found in cigarettes..

“Yeah I know about all of the negative side effects, but I don’t care. My mom and family have all had cancer so I’m bound to get it eventually,” Zingaro said.

Smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the world. Nicotine is highly addictive and can reach the brain in 10 seconds. 60.9% of U.S. students who smoked on a regular basis admitted to trying to quit smoking,   however, only 12.2% were successful.

“I did quit smoking for two years because a friend asked me to. We don’t talk anymore, though, so I started back up again.” Zingaro said.

“I smoke about a pack a day,” Traylor said. “I think that I’m addicted now, but in the beginning it was more like a bad habit.”

Cancer is a big health concern when it comes to smoking, but there are many more complications and side effects that can occur. Chronic bronchitis, emphysema, a stoke, or heart attack may later affect the body. Physical concerns include premature wrinkles, yellow teeth and fingers, and bad breath.

“You never stop coughing. You will always have a tickle in your throat. After a while it puts a toll on you. The worst part is that you smell and knowing that others know you smoke. The phlegm that you cough up, it’s disgusting,” Traylor said.