An old high school friend of mine used to tell me that one of the best things about smoking was that it made you look busy. Instead of standing around idly waiting for, say, a bus, you could look active and deliberate as you puffed away. And you could even act annoyed when the bus actually arrived, making it seem like waiting for buses was something you did while smoking and not vice-versa. So I guess the puffing teens in this state finally found something else to occupy their time as the habit has taken a 32% plunge among NY high school students (from 27.1 to 18.5%) in the past 4 years, according to the Daily News. In fact, this is a larger drop than the national teen smoking rate, which now stands at 20.3%.
Teen (and non-teen) smokers who are considering quitting can find great resources and many local NYC support services at NewYorkSmokeFree.com. And for those who aren't sure if quitting is for them, they can check out this NIH website which calculates the risk of unpleasant things occurring if they don't find a new hobby.
Image from Dinosaur Jr's Green Mind
