Where to begin, statistics tell us that if a child’s parents smoke they are twice as likely to begin themselves (Schwarz, Joel MNT). The case was true for myself as well as many of my friends. I began smoking tobacco cigarettes when I was 17 years old as a stress reliever, and at it’s deepest roots a form of self harm. The calmest of teenagers I was not, and I thought cigarettes would help in some way. They became the friend that was always there in my time of need, when my mood swings were in their most intense and life threatening. Good things never last though, and that old friend who I thought was helping me was only making my life worse. If I didn’t have cigarettes my mood swings would cloud my mind with the most intense moments of self hatred, and at times ways to end my life in unimaginable ways.