It comes as no surprise to me that a tenth of cigarette sales at gas station convenience stores are to minors under the age of 18. After all, where else are they going to get them from? 

Seriously, I guess it's pretty easy for kids to avail themselves of cigarettes these days. It was for the kids I knew, too, that and alcohol. Someone always knew a way, and at the time I never thought to question it.

But as my older son heads toward teenhood I have to wonder: what are we doing to keep our kids from smoking? Once they do, it's often hard to stop. I know someone in his 50's who's been smoking for over FORTY YEARS. [cough] I don't want this for my kids, you know? Beyond educating in the home and setting an example and all yada yada yada, what is there to do? There are already laws and all in place, and I'm not so enamored with the idea of creating more. Can we stop making tobacco so attractive to people, maybe? And start exposing it for the drug that it is? I think that's a huge first step.

(By the way, if you smoke and you want to quit, here's a place to start. And I wish you luck and strength; it's not easy.