Did you know that tobacco kills more people than AIDS, crack, cocaine, heroin, alcohol, car accidents, fire and murder combined?

Sure, when we were in elementary school, those people wearing black D.A.R.E. shirts came to our school and told us about drugs, especially about smoking. From that, I learned the basic facts. Smoking can make you have yellow teeth and bad breath, but there is more to fear than just that—it can also cause cancer and kill you.

I'm an eighth-grade student at Redwood Middle School, and for a research project on Red Ribbon Week in my Oral Expression class, my group and I decided to study the dangers of tobacco. It was horrifying to learn what smoking can do to you.

Smoking can lead to emphysema. Do you know what that is like? Try breathing in and out of a coffee straw, just for a minute. Imagine breathing like that for the rest of your life. It's terrible.

I have surveyed some of the people I know who smoke and got a surprising result from it. I asked these questions: Why do you smoke? And when did you first start smoking?

Eight out of 10 people began smoking before the age of 14, during the middle school years, when they were still growing into adults.

Some of the reasons they give for smoking include:

* To help them relax

* They think it makes them look mature and strong.

* Curiosity

* To anger their parents

* Sibling or family influence

Statistics show that in California 46 percent of eighth-grade students and 14 percent of sixth-grade students smoke or chew tobacco. It saddens me that those kids know what they are doing is harmful to their body but their addiction is too powerful for them to control.

Smoking can kill you—period! You don't get addicted to it right away, but it slowly pulls you in. You might only smoke 10 cigarettes or less a week, but it can still cause you the same harm as a person who smokes 80 cigarettes a week. In addition to emphysema, it can cause bronchitis, heart disease, oral cancer and lung cancer.

That's what happens when you get addicted—you can't stop; you can't control it.

Get help to quit or more information on smoking from the American Cancer Society at 1.800.4.CANCER. If you haven't started smoking yet, don't try it—you'll regret it.

I've watched what people go through after years of smoking, and it touched me like nothing else has. Smoking is addicting, so think twice before you take a ticket to death.