Friend just started smoking... please help me help her!?!
Question:
Friend just started smoking... please help me help her!?
She is 18 so it's not like there's anything illegal about it, but I almost wish there were.
She's only smoked one pack, she said, and I believe her on that. But I also believe that she is underestimating the importance of this decision. She says I'm over-reacting, that it's just one pack. But there is still a lot of toxic stuff in that single pack.
Her grandfather almost died due to smoking-related causes, and she is a very good biology student, so she definitely knows all of the crap that smoking can cause.
She smells terrible and looks stupid when she smokes, and no one wants to hang around her. But she says that she just wanted to try it, and that it's not about peer pressure or looking cool, just about trying the forbidden fruit.
How can I convince her that this fruit is "forbidden" for a reason? She is otherwise very mature, and I want to treat her like an adult, but it is so frustrating to think that she might die from being too stubborn to stop smoking!
Answers:
Try telling her the same way you just told us. Its not going to matter though because only she can make herself quit if she wants to. Just remember you're not her mother. And even if you were, there's nothing you can do about it since she's 18.