2008 Woodie Awards
Smoking still prominent on campuses
Danny Deza
Issue date: 3/17/08 Section: News
Despite a decline in the past several years in the number of high school aged smokers nationwide, college students continue to smoke cigarettes and other tobacco products at roughly the same rate, as before a recent study suggests.
According to that study, performed by the federal government's 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the most readily available data, 31 percent of full-time college students smoke, compared to 25 percent of the overall population, leaving young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 at the highest rate of tobacco users.
Peer pressure, social gatherings and new environments can influence college newcomers to experiment with new things, said counselor for alcohol and other drug substances Felix Fernandez Pizzi.
"One factor is that there are less restrictions in college than in high school, which can definitely affect the behavior on the individual," Pizzi said. "Also, the added factor of increased stress in a college environment can lead students to pick up new habits that they might not have had before in high school."
Pizzi said because cigarettes have nicotine, which is a stimulant, and act as a "pick me up," they release chemicals, called neurotransmitters, into the brain, leading to short-term physical satisfaction, possibly relieving stress.
Ryan Secrist, a middler communication studies major, has been a smoker for the past two years and admits to starting his freshman year. He agreed with Pizzi and said the transition from high school to college was the source of the trend.
"A lot of my friends started smoking their freshman year, but as time goes on and we get older I have noticed more and more of my friends are quitting," he said. "It starts out one a day on a regular basis, but then it slowly becomes three or four cigarettes a day. It can creep up on you."
Within the past five years an alternative has entered the collegiate world: smoking tobacco out of hookahs, which have been on the rise and has become a popular demand among college students, as suggested by Smokeshop Magazine. In 2005 they reported that 200 to 300 hookah bars have opened since 2000 nationwide, many near college campuses.
According to that study, performed by the federal government's 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the most readily available data, 31 percent of full-time college students smoke, compared to 25 percent of the overall population, leaving young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 at the highest rate of tobacco users.
Peer pressure, social gatherings and new environments can influence college newcomers to experiment with new things, said counselor for alcohol and other drug substances Felix Fernandez Pizzi.
"One factor is that there are less restrictions in college than in high school, which can definitely affect the behavior on the individual," Pizzi said. "Also, the added factor of increased stress in a college environment can lead students to pick up new habits that they might not have had before in high school."
Pizzi said because cigarettes have nicotine, which is a stimulant, and act as a "pick me up," they release chemicals, called neurotransmitters, into the brain, leading to short-term physical satisfaction, possibly relieving stress.
Ryan Secrist, a middler communication studies major, has been a smoker for the past two years and admits to starting his freshman year. He agreed with Pizzi and said the transition from high school to college was the source of the trend.
"A lot of my friends started smoking their freshman year, but as time goes on and we get older I have noticed more and more of my friends are quitting," he said. "It starts out one a day on a regular basis, but then it slowly becomes three or four cigarettes a day. It can creep up on you."
Within the past five years an alternative has entered the collegiate world: smoking tobacco out of hookahs, which have been on the rise and has become a popular demand among college students, as suggested by Smokeshop Magazine. In 2005 they reported that 200 to 300 hookah bars have opened since 2000 nationwide, many near college campuses.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 12
Anonymous
posted 3/17/08 @ 2:36 AM EST
Why don't we ban fast food while we are at it because it would be terrible to have students getting fat on campus. I don't understand how anyone can think that the solution to anything is a ban, especially when it comes to personal health choices. (Continued…)
herehere
posted 3/17/08 @ 11:47 AM EST
one i dont understand why someone would start smoking in college. i mean ive smoked since freshmen year in high school. i guess it started for the reasons listed in the artical somewhat. (Continued…)
Get Over It
posted 3/17/08 @ 4:17 PM EST
Bans are necessary because its apparent that a large portion of the population is too stupid and susceptible to advertising and peer pressure to make certain choices on their own. (Continued…)
Christian
posted 3/17/08 @ 5:33 PM EST
Poor Liz's precious lungs are being contaminated as she gasps for air crawling on the ground, trying to reach the library in a scene reminiscent of WWI battlefields full of poisonous gas. (Continued…)
Marie
posted 3/17/08 @ 9:37 PM EST
I agree with Christian.
I understand the need to ban smoking in places like bars or cafes, but public outside areas? What about coughing loudly, talking on your cell phone in public, or blasting music so loud through earphones neighbors can hear when in close spaces like the bus or a computer lab??
Unless the smoke ring around Liz becomes as dangerous as the smog around, lets say LA, lets leave the smokers alone and let them deal with the consequence of tobacco inhalation. (Continued…)
Joe
posted 3/18/08 @ 10:25 AM EST
i support smoking by all yet i do find it funny that outside the library there is a very clear no smoking sign and then 3 feet away there is a butt recepticle
Pete
posted 3/18/08 @ 12:32 PM EST
I guess it's the stress of college/university that causes the smoking rate to spike for those in their early 20s. Luckily most of the smokers do manage to quit within a few years of finishing school. (Continued…)
Smokintg in Seattle
posted 3/19/08 @ 1:52 AM EST
Personally I think smokers should be tossed in jail and cigarettes should
be banned. Your right to smoke ends at my nose.
Cigarettes are as addictive as cocain. (Continued…)
Marcus
posted 3/19/08 @ 10:13 AM EST
Sadly, it is not the government's prerogative to tell its citizens what they can and can't consume. Or, at least, it shouldn't be.
Look, I don't like secondhand smoke either, but wow, you guys are crazy. (Continued…)
John
posted 3/20/08 @ 7:33 AM EST
It amazes me that people continue to smoke despite all of the scientific research detailing the negative consequences that so often result. It is a lack of education, or an issue of complete ignorance on the behalf of smokers. (Continued…)
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