An appeal for bill to deter Youth smoking.

The refrain is always the same whenever we enter the car with our 4-year-old grandson Ryan: "Grampy, put on your seatbelt!"

You see, after years of watching his parents and grandparents fasten their seatbelts, he's become conditioned to the fact that the safety harnesses save lives.

Now, if only every child in Rhode Island knew that picking up their first cigarette could kill them in the long run.

Unfortunately; not every child knows the dangers of tobacco. Many see their parents light up, and slowly, like droplets of water carving a small indent into a smooth stone, that child will come to learn that smoking is an acceptable, safe behavior.

The numbers say it all: More than 60 percent of all smokers begin smoking before they're 14, and 90 percent begin before they reach 19 years of age. And this year in Rhode Island, 5,000 children under 18 in …