Many teens have questions about drugs. On Drug Facts Chat Day,
NIDA scientists get to listen in and answer these questions from
students all across the country. Here’s one from “zippy do da”
from Kingswood Middle School in New Hampshire: Why do teens who
smoke think they are so cool? There could be many reasons why
teens who smoke think they’re cool—maybe their friends smoke,
maybe their parents told them not to smoke, maybe they think it
gives them an edgy look, or a temporary high. But the truth is,
as far as your health goes—smoking is so not cool. And who
defines cool anyway? What’s cool to one person may not be cool
to another. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder,
coolness is an individual decision. Not everyone thinks that
doing something illegal or unhealthy because your friends are
doing it is cool. Lots of teens would say its cooler to hold a
pen, paintbrush, or drum stick between your fingers, instead of
a cigarette. When our parents were younger, many of them thought
“the Fonz” from the hi