this women sounds like that she is telling these kids that your parents are not able to parent you right, so therefore it is up to me to educate you in the right way, now lets learn how to goose step, and salute the all might me

The "dumb" comment is simply tongue and cheek. My basic point was that for all the government is putting into this crack down on smoking, it's quite the paradox; as they are HEAVILY relying on the smokers to balance their budget! The state tax is set to go up ANOTHER $1.00 per pack, and now even the feds are getting a piece of the action, adding something like $0.50 a pack. The tax of course just hurts the poor/lower class; as an extra $10-20 a week hurts the guy making $20,000 a year FAR more then a guy making $150,000 a year.
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Smokers are not "dumb". I know many people smarter then I, who smoke..OK, that may not be saying much, haha. My point is that if the government is so dead set on stopping smoking, perhaps they should not be relying so heavily on the tax revenue it generates. Of course; as the price for cigarettes gets higher and higher, so will the under ground, black market, of cigarettes. Organized crime makes people millionaires when the government taxes and regulates excessively.

smoking is an addiction.no matter how much you harp on a smoker they are not going to quit until they are ready or are forced health wise. the goal is to detour kids and adults never to start. i smoke an its an awful habit that i struggle with every day. i find ways not to light up,i have only one child out of 4 who smokes, an im always asking her to quit, she laughs its not funny.as far as the statement dumb smokers go, im very far from being dumb. i like so many others have an addiction and look every day for ways to stop it. for those of you trying to quit never give up.for those of you who always have something rude to say, you shouldnt until youve walked a mile in someone elses shoes. remember the key is never light up.

The lungs are real PIG lungs. They are obtained from medical companies that use the animal parts for studies. I was a member of Parker High's TATU program 9 years ago. The black lungs are injected with various chemicals that are in cigarettes to show the effects, and as all the younger kids would ask "did the pig really smoke?"...no.

To all you still smokers, I quit 15 years ago and I'm afraid it wasn't soon enough. I suffer from COPD, a cronic lung disease and asthma, which is very hard to breathe. Please don't wait another day to stop. Your life will only be the better for it. The sooner you quit, the better your quality of life will be. To all of the non-smokers, lets try to be a little more compasionate with smokers, most of them don't like it anymore than we do. It's got to be one of the hardest habits to give up.

I'm surprised there are all these efforts to stop people from smoking. After all the states answer to balancing their budget is through massive taxes on cigarettes. We should be thankful to all those dumb smokers who are carrying the load to balance the state's awful budget mismanagement.

aparentwhocares: I hope your daughter continues to consider the ill effects of smoking. Both my daughters got after me all the time when I smoked. Now they BOTH smoke. They are 22 and 29. I hate it that they do. I quit cold turkey 15 years ago. I run and I bike. I am almost in the best shape of my life. Only in high school was I in better shape. Believe it or not, sometimes I have an urge, but I just remember how it used to be. It can be done. I wish all who smoke the best and hopefully you can quit someday.

My sister had this presentation done at her school, and it turned her off to smoking completely.

The lung display was the most effective. It really helps to see first hand the difference.

I'm glad my sister got to see this, we never had anything like that when I was in school.

We had the DARE program, but I don't remember anything particular I learned from it that I hadn't already known.

That lung display will stick with my sister forever.

Sounds like mind control to me but then again that's what the liberal WEAC members try to do to our kids everyday. Probably works about as well as the D.A.R.E. program did.

funny stuff sandman:) that reminds me of a crazy dr i saw in a bar once. i think i was in boston;) and he went crazy and was running with scissors:) i think his name was frasier or somethin....;)

I wish the kids in my daughters class could of seen the real lungs we saw at bodyworlds. Now that make a impression. We went to Milwaukee last summer and saw the Bodyworld human body exhibit and the lungs of the smoker was a real eye opener for us, and many who there. I know of one die hard smoker who quit cold turkey immediatly after seeing the black lung display.
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I only wish we could convince my sister and brother to quit smoking, but nothing will...not even seeing their dad die of lung cancer after several years of battling cancer and even losing his voice box. You would think that would be enough,but it wasn't.
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As someone else said stopping is the hard part...if we can only get the kids to never start....now that would be a good thing.

Tobacco ads are directed at children because the industry knows that all the adults who have the habit now started when they were kids -you can't convince an adult to pick up the habit.

These youngsters are showing how smart they are and that the days of the tobacco industry are numbered.

It appears Sandman is a causality of some sort.

it is an upstream battle against ads that are clearly marketed at young folks. advertising will trump education in the long run everytime. how effective have the warnings on the packages been? addiction is a lifestyle in itself thet flys in the face of education.

This sounds like a fantastic program. I work in addictions and I am definitely impressed. I admire the job these teen-agers and their director (Debbie Fischer) are doing. Great work!

Yeah, that'll work! Why didn't we think of a cool slogan involving a major brand name long ago? Maybe DARE (at one time a $750,000,000.00 dollar per year "industry" -- did you think that all those officially licensed tee-shirts, pencils, rulers and coffee mugs were gratis? ... all the way to the bank, baby -- HAHAHAHAHA!) would have been more effective (it was shown not to be by countless studies and ultimately not supported by the very grants that got it going!) if it would have used an acronym like COKE or PEPSI! And don't forget to tell kids that HEROIN is bad for them too (along with rock and hip-hop music, boys, cars, fast food, alcohol, sex, and tooth decay -- and in that EXACT ORDER, too!), even though it's cheaper than grass, considered far more chic buy the self-styled cool wannabes, and long known to be deadly. "ARE THOSE REAL LUNGS," huh? Sometimes you just gotta ... ROFL, with scissors (oops -- did I forget to mention the danger of them too?)!

No, they are latex replicas of real lungs, made by Nasco in Fort Atkinson, WI. This program is an excellent way to stop kids from smoking before they start. My daughter has been a member of the group for 6 years and does these sessions for the younger kids all over the county. It's a great thing these kids do, helping others to make healthy choices. Keep up the good work!

Yes, walkin, those are real, human lungs to show the effects of smoking. The one on the right are the lungs of a smoker. We've been hearing about the effects of smoking for decades so it's a wonder why anyone starts smoking at all!

The addiction to smoking is one of the worst addictions I think anyone could have and my hat is off to everyone who has quit! For the people who still smoke and want to quit there is a new device called an electronic cigarette that may help you to taper down and quit much like the nicotine patch system that is just brilliant! If you are interested in there or want more information about the product you can go to www.invisismoke.com

People who oppose the statewide smoking ban take heed: the children have something to teach you.

My Mom used to smoke. Thirty years after she quit she is now in the top 1% of "heart healthy" people in her age group. The moment you quit you start getting better, so do it now.

Are those real lungs? If not, why are they wearing gloves?

Quitting is the hard part. If we can prevent kids from ever starting, the problem is solved! Maybe they will listen better to their peers, instead of adults. I hope the program can continue and remain effective.

My daughter goes to school at adams . when they had this youth to youth tought class it sure left a mark on her she hasnt stopped talking about the effects of smoking. She even asked to send the packet of paper she revieved to her grandmother who smokes. I grow up with the teasing becouse I smelt of smoke.That is what kept me away from them so im glad they have this class so my daughter and son can know just how much smoking can effect your lives