Risk and Rebellion

Paul Bergen had an interesting post on Smokles the other day.

In it he touched  on the attraction of risk.

While I am no expert in the subject, it brought back to me rapidly receding days of childhood.

What was the attraction of smoking?  A huge part of it was that it was illegal (for our age group), it was bad, it was risky, it was rebellion. For the same reasons we bought dope off dodgy dealers and felt bad and brave.

Which makes me wonder, how attractive will a ‘safe’ alternative be to children looking to rebel?

This e-cigarettes attraction to children, of course, has become a key argument of the ‘anti-smoking’ lobby as the rest of the case has gradually been brought crashing down to the ground.

But I wonder if the electronic cigarette might be a lot more attractive to children if it was made out to be as bad and dangerous and Banzhaf, ASH and the rest of the big Pharma possy would like it to be!

Tags: children, gateway to smoking, musings

Related posts:

1. Passive Smoking: A Risk Too Small to Worry About?
2. Health New Zealand: E Cigarettes Reduce Cancer Risk

children, gateway to smoking, musings ash