Lisa Danield, age 9, of Fredericton, N.B., Canada, for her question:

WHAT MAKES PEOPLE BEGIN TO SMOKE?

Andy can only guess that many people begin to smoke because they see others smoking--and for some strange reason they want to go along with the gang.

Scientists and doctors have established rather well the important finding that smoking is bad for a person's health. There are three dangerous items in tobacco: nicotine, tar and particles from the smoke. All three can do terrible things to the lungs.

In the late 1950s the American Cancer Society conducted a four-year study that showed 30 percent more smokers died of coronary heart attacks than would have been expected to die. Smoking was also tied in directly to cancer, emphysema and other respiratory diseases.

Andy has these words of advice: Don't begin to smoke.