New Jersey Number 7 on the List of States With This Vice
Research shows New Jersey fared well among states with the fewest smokers. Smoking is probably the stupidest thing someone can do to themselves, but I get it. I think if you can avoid the dumbest part, trying it, then you’ve made one of the best decisions anyone can make.
I don’t get angry with smokers, preach to or scold them. I think that’s a bad idea. Every smoker knows that it’s bad for them. I sympathize with smokers because I smoked for close to ten years and I understand how it feels.
Although many smokers say they enjoy it, it’s only because it satisfies their addiction. It’s an uncontrollable craving like illegal drug addiction or alcoholism.
NJ Ranking
New Jersey is seventh in the country when it comes to states with the fewest smokers. That doesn’t sound bad when you think, “Well, there are forty-four other states who smoke more than us.” The numbers show that more than ten percent of our state’s population is still puffing away every day.
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According to AmericasHealthRanking.org, 10.4 percent of New Jerseyans have smoked “at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and currently smoke daily or some days.”
How It Began
I started immediately after high school during my senior week in Wildwood, New Jersey. My friend John was a smoker, and I don’t remember why, but I tried one. It took me nearly ten years to stop forever. It was the birth of my first child that inspired me to quit immediately. I was going to be doing some drinking at the Trenton Saint Patrick’s Day parade, and thought, “If I can make it through a day of drinking with a smoke, I can make it through any day.”
I host a health podcast where I speak with several different kinds of doctors every week. Of course, they encourage all of their patients who smoke to quit, but they also know that it’s not easy.
There’s a reason why saying, “It’s not good for you” or printing health warnings on the packs doesn’t deter people from smoking. Doctors agree that it’s because it doesn’t cause cancer, or other serious ailments, or kill everyone who smokes. People think, “It won’t happen to me.” They give examples like, “My grandfather smoked and he lived to ninety-five.”
Fortunately, we have fewer smokers than ever in New Jersey. While we’ll never get that number down to zero, for now, we can set a goal to be number one on the list of states with the fewest smokers.
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