this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2024
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This is a useless take.
The reason people generally smoke is, still, peer pressure. That's fine you don't think it's cool. Most don't. But impressionable, rebellious teens are, believe it or not, poorly informed on average. Literally, the reason people try it is because it is "cool" relative to the paradigm they're operating in. Again, it's fine you operate in a different and more righteous paradigm, but to ignore the existence of others and differences is nothing short of childish, especially in the face of a real issue.
Reducing the genesis of a smoking addiction to someone deciding to destroy their health even though it is uncool is about as on point as the PMRC blaming rock and roll for corrupting youth; it oversimplifies a complex issue and ignores the social and psychological factors at play. Peer pressure, media portrayal, and the desire to fit in or appear rebellious can all contribute to someone starting to smoke. It's not a matter of simple choice but a complex interplay of societal influences and personal circumstances. Ignoring this complexity doesn't help address the root of the problem or offer meaningful solutions.
Suffice to say, Frank Zappa would have hated your take, and you should feel bad about that.
I don't know when you grew up*, but I grew up recently enough that the idea of smoking being "cool" was long in the past. It's not about being "more righteous". I have plenty of my own vices. The only difference is that my vices don't absolutely suck to go near before you get addicted, and aren't both widely-regarded as uncool and very noticeable.
I'm not sure why references to a long-dead popular musician or obscure American lobby group are relevant. Culture changes.
* actually, as I wrote the rest of this comment I realised you put enough hints in. PMRC and Frank Zappa? Yeah, when they were in the zeitgeist, I'm sure smoking was still considered cool. But by the '00s to early '10s when I was a teen, that was long past being true. (But vapes had not yet come along as the new popular thing.)