It's 2013 and People Still Smoke Cigarettes?

I am aware that the question "It's 2013 and people still smoke cigarettes?" is probably a pretty dumb one to ask. However, I am completely shocked at the amount of people who STILL smoke cigarettes in 2013. Hasn't enough research come out to inspire people to take control of their health and put the cancer sticks down?

I was driving to work this morning and Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) reported that 19% of adult Minnesotans smoke cigarettes. 19%! That means about one in every five people in Minnesota smokes! (http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/01/29/health/one-in-five-minnesota-adults-smoke) WHAT? REALLY?! Now maybe my world has been completely turned upside down by this information because the people I'm typically around don't smoke. (Of course I can't leave out those certain friends who think it's a great idea to light up when they've had one too many cocktails.) Maybe I'm just being naive about it all.

The real shocker came when my mom, sister, and I were meeting up with a group of ladies at an establishment that allows indoor smoking. They do also, however, offer non-smoking areas. My mom and I, who are non-smokers, made it to our meet-up spot first so we decided to set up shop on the non-smoking side. Considering my mom was just getting over a horrible case of bronchitis, my sister was on day 15 of trying to quit smoking, and I just didn't want to put my lungs through two hours of smoky hell, we thought it was the best choice. As the rest of the group joined us it became clear that they did not appreciate our decision to be on the non-smoking side of the room. Without acknowledging the situation, the rest of our group just turned around and set themselves up on the smoking half of the room. In a group of ten women, only three were not smoking that afternoon. Although my mom felt guilty about separating our group by smokers and non-smokers, I just refused to fall victim to secondhand smoke.

There's no doubt that cigarettes are extremely addictive. It's the instant buzz that's processed through the brain that makes those tobacco filled tubes hard to quit. Both of my sisters successfully quit smoking cigarettes while they were pregnant, however, even after nine months of clear lungs they went right back to lighting up. But I must say I am so proud of my one sister who currently hasn't had a cigarette in almost one whole month without being pregnant!

It's such an odd thing. As a society we're aware of the dangers of tobacco smoke to our overall health. It's even printed on the cigarette packages! No one can play dumb to the effects of smoking cigarettes. But what makes humans decide to ignore all of that and still light up?

Now with all of this rant about tobacco usage, can't we say the same thing for the food we eat?