Opinion: Surgeon General’s new warning

Toward the end of May, United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an advisory on the negative effects that social media has on the mental health of young people. This is a practice that has a decades-long history in our country and has often led to observable changes in the lifestyles of many Americans.

Cigarettes

I think that smoking cigarettes became “glamorous” due to the effects of the Great Depression and the movies that were released during that period of our history. Movies were a great relief from the drudgery of everyday life, and beautiful women as well as handsome men were seen on the screen smoking cigarettes. That made the practice not only acceptable, but also desirable. And smoking parents were role models for their children.

I started smoking cigarettes when I was 13 because every adult who I knew smoked. Cigarettes were inexpensive (22 cents for a 20-cigarette pack). And they were easily obtained. I could walk into any store and buy a pack of Chesterfields. But if I used a vending machine, the cigarettes cost slightly more. I’d insert a quarter and get a pack of cigarettes. Inside the cellophane wrapper was my two pennies change.