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SCMP Reporter

WHILE many of his classmates spend their pocket money on the latest fashion or trading cards, 14-year-old Mark literally burns several hundred dollars a month - on cigarettes.

 He has been smoking for more than nine years and is up to almost 20 cigarettes a day.

  Like many teenage smokers, Mark started because he believed smoking helped him relax and gave him a ''cool'', masculine look.

  ''I smoke whenever I'm under pressure,'' Mark said.

  ''It calms down my emotions and releases some of my stress.''   However, his classmate, Nelson, thinks differently.

  ''I can't smoke and I don't like smoking,'' Nelson says. ''I can't even imagine one good thing about smoking. It causes cancer and it is ridiculous to say that cigarettes can refresh your mind.''   The number of people in Hong Kong who smoke has been decreasing in the past 10 years but the statistics also show more and more young people are picking up the habit.

  Three per cent of the territory's 691,900 daily smokers were aged 15 to 19 in 1990. The proportion had risen to 4.2 per cent in 1993.

  It is well-known that tobacco contains nicotine.

  The drug penetrates the bloodstream and stimulates the nerves to produce a mild feeling of excitement which smokers may easily misinterpret as relaxing and to which they may soon become addicted.

  But figures from the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health show tobacco kills 2.5 million people worldwide each year and it is linked to more than 3,000 or 12 per cent of all deaths in Hong Kong.

  It causes 90 per cent of lung cancer cases and contributes to 75 per cent of the cases of chronic bronchitis and emphysema and to 25 per cent of the cases of ischaemic heart disease.

 ''You can easily feel the early symptoms of chronic bronchitis even though you are not a heavy smoker,'' says Mariana Law, Senior Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health.

  ''The harm to the body can emerge within a couple of months.

 ''Along with the internal damage, your appearance will also be badly affected as tobacco leaves stains on the teeth and finger nails,'' she adds.

  Does Mark notice the effects smoking has had on his health?   ''Yes, I know it's bad for my health and it causes cancer,'' Mark replies.

  ''But my family are smokers so I don't think there is anything wrong with it and it's my personal freedom to smoke,'' he insisted.

  However, the international school to which he goes curtails his ''freedom'' by barring him from smoking on the school grounds or when he is wearing the uniform.

  Many schools are adopting similar strategies to discourage students from smoking in the wake of the alarming statistics.

    Gordon Wiebe and Keith Estey, who teach at Mark's school, realise his case is similar to that of many other pupils.

    ''We notice a fairly high proportion of our students do smoke,'' Mr Wiebe said.

  ''We are trying our best to discourage them from taking up the habit.''   Mr Estey added: ''We don't think it is infringing their freedom if they are not allowed to smoke during school hours because people around have the right to a smoke-free environment.''   Mr Estey's stance is shared by non-smoking students like Nelson.

  ''I think it is a good idea not to allow smoking in schools,'' he said. ''I don't want to become a passive smoker and I am sure a lot of my friends find the habit repelling.''   Although the school has laid down punishments for students who break the no-smoking rule, offenders are usually let off with a warning.

  And both teachers attribute the increasing interest in smoking among teenagers to the images promoted in cigarette advertisements.

  ''It is a pity that young people tend to mistake smoking as a rite towards adulthood,'' Mr Estey said.



the perils of puffing