Few things in life are more confounding than the sight of a young person -- a college student, say -- smoking a cigarette. It seems such a senseless piece of potentially mortal harm to inflict upon one's body, especially for an intelligent, informed individual.

You can easily imagine a young person taking up the practice, believing it was only a temporary diversion, to be discarded at any time it became necessary or expedient to do so. For several generations, that was apparently the motivating factor for causing young people out on their own for the first time or able to sneak off for a furtive puff, to take up smoking. The only thing was, those first puffs led to second ones, then third ones, and, before the kid knew it, he was hooked.

Meanwhile, the only ones who cared were their parents, who knew that the road they were choosing led downhill, into an abyss from which escape was difficult, if not impossible.

Now, it's different. When somebody smokes out in plain sight these days, there are plenty of people around who react with disdain, some with loathing. Now, we know that cigarette smoke damages not only the lungs of the person doing the smoking but those of everyone around.

Moreover, the question never stops being asked: Why would someone with relatively unsullied lungs voluntarily inflict upon himself this nearly inevitable burden?

Apparently, society has accomplished what science has failed to do over the past 40 years: change youths' view of smoking.

According to the New York State Department of Health, 16.2 percent of high-school students in 2005 reported having smoked; in 2007, that figure had dropped significantly, to 13.8 percent.

You could cite a lot of reasons for this. One of them is probably that the price of cigarettes in New York are now, on the average, between about $5.40 and $6 a pack. That's largely attributable to sky-high taxes, for which we should all be grateful. Not many high-school kids can afford that, and not so many college students, either. The ones who can can certainly think of better ways to spend money.

But don't overlook the pressure society exerts, either. Whereas smoking in the movies used to convince youth that the practice was cool, a constant barrage of negative messages throughout life have had a very positive effect. Smoking is now spurned in such overwhelming numbers that it takes quite the loner to find any pleasure in the habit.

New York state has a number of especially effective cessation programs that discourage smoking, and they are making great strides.

Even if you've never smoked, you benefit from this trend. Health costs associated with smoking are the responsibility of everyone. Many people rightfully resent having to suffer the consequences of those costs from a distinctly avoidable activity.

Less smoking, particularly among young people, is terrific news for everyone -- especially for the young people who reject that first puff.