# CDC Tips From Former Smokers - Michael- I Started Smoking at Age 9

Michael started smoking at age 9, when his sister gave him his first cigarette. In this video from CDC's Tips From Former Smokers campaign, Michael talks about getting addicted as a child. His addiction kept him smoking for many years, despite early signs of breathing trouble. One day he awoke, gasping for air. Michael has a lung disease called COPD that has no cure. He says, "It's my desire that... you won't come to this place—that you will stop \[smoking\], one way or another."

Comments on this video are allowed in accordance with our comment policy: https://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia/Tools/CommentPolicy.html

This video can also be viewed at

http://streaming.cdc.gov/vod.php?id=c1dae294e49ee8b05a71965f99a470fd20140106084650922

- Kind: Short
- Year: 2014
- Runtime: 1 min
- By: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Archive: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CDC_Tips_From_Former_Smokers_-_Michael-_I_Started_Smoking_at_Age_9.webm)
- Licence or status: Public domain (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/commons/59333741?play=1)