According to ABC News, an estimated 27,000 more women died of lung cancer than breast cancer last year, and more than one-third of teenagers have taken up smoking. While there are celebrity-endorsed crusades to raise awareness for diseases like breast cancer and AIDS, the myriad of diseases that result from smoking have been largely overlooked.

According to genetics expert John Wiencke, the highest levels of damage to the lungs occur in those smokers who become addicted in their teens. Wiencke asserts that, ?Young people should know that in adolescence, their lungs, like many parts of their bodies, are growing very rapidly. During rapid periods of growth, smoking may be especially harmful.?

So, who?s to blame for the fatal attraction between teens and cigarettes? Many point a finger to the tobacco companies that release enticing ads that are designed to seduce nonsmokers over to the dark side. But in a statement to ABC news, the RJ Reynolds tobacco company claimed, ?We do not encourage nonsmokers to start smoking. We work for smokers.?

Still, tobacco companies are not the only influential factors in young people?s lives. Focus should also be centered on:

• The common occurrence of smoking in many popular teen films and television shows.
• An often unenforced law that states cigarettes cannot be sold to anyone under the age of 18
• Parents who smoke, and the reality that teens are too smart to fall for the "Do as I say, not as I do" routine.
• Peer pressure. The pressure to conform and "be cool" can be overwhelming during the formulative teen years.