Use scare tactics to dissuade smokers

A leading cause of preventable death in United States has unfortunately become an addicting habit for many people all over the nation.

This extremely harmful habit is smoking tobacco, known as cigarettes. Smoking causes many health problems, such as emphysema, heart disease, and cancer, as well as emotional and physical consequences such as change in voice, pigmentation change in teeth and bad breath.

Even though throughout the years people have become more aware of the harmful effects that smoking causes, it seems as though it is just not enough and more needs to be done in order to save lives and shape the upcoming generations into a healthier and more knowledgeable society.

In years of fighting with this issue, people have come up with many great ideas to inform others and help them quit. Most of the work seems to be paying off, but smoking is still common among teens.

Putting disturbing images of what cigarettes have done to people, such as the holes in the throat, or damaged teeth and lungs could gross one out so much as to stimulate them to quit. We could also raise the price of cigarettes so high that people are forced to stop purchasing them and push them to slowly quit.

More can and should be done and we as a strong society need to help one another in order to achieve this goal of a healthier life for us and for our future generations.

Gor Matevosyan

La Crescenta

Arrest of bin Laden offers some healing

I remember Sept. 11, 2001 like it was yesterday.

I held a sign at the corner of Wilson Avenue and Brand Boulevard asking people to give blood donations to help injured terrorist victims in New York and Washington, D.C. On that day, my heart was broken, but there was no way in hell somebody was going to take away my American pride, no matter what happened.

I lost a very good friend in the World Trade Center attack. When I heard the news that Osama bin Laden was killed by American soldiers in his house by the Navy Seal’s best, I turned on the Rolling Stones and my house started to rock in memory of my friend.

It is nice to know she can rest in peace knowing our American troops went to Bin Laden’s house and turned his world into “The Wreck of the Old 97.”

Paul D. Carney

Glendale