The feeling of people watching and judging you isn’t pleasant, especially when it happens multiple times a day.
It’s how senior Luke Bowerman feels when he lights up a cigarette in front of others.
“I still do have reservations, even though I’ve smoked a long time,” he said. “I still feel uncomfortable in some sorts of situations – half because I want to be considerate of others and half because they could be a teacher. I really do believe teachers look down on students who smoke.”
Trends can determine the “in” thing, whether it is clothes, music or hobbies, and right now smoking isn’t the “in” thing for college students across the country that it used to be.
The American Lung Association released a report earlier this month discussing tobacco use and college-age adults, finding the usage rates are down to one in five students, the lowest rate since 1980.
“The information we have now says it’s so unhealthy for you,” senior Abbey Bove said. “It’s not considered cool anymore. I think it’s because health is becoming such a huge issue. I think people want to be fit and healthy, and they know that smoking causes a lot of health problems.”
Smoking causes health problems that have been drilled into today’s college students’ minds since youth – lung cancer, emphysema and mouth cancer. Ruth Sarna, director of student health services, said another lesser-known side effect is increased blood pressure, and smokers aren’t the only ones to feel the consequences.
“There are studies that show when a husband and wife live together, the non-smoker has just as much risk of cancer as the smoker,” Sarna said.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified secondhand smoke inhaled from other people’s cigarettes by nonsmokers as a known human carcinogen that is responsible for approximately 49,400 deaths in adult nonsmokers from lung cancer and heart disease each year.
“I feel like if someone else chooses to smoke, that is their choice, but I shouldn’t have to suffer,” Bove said.
Like Bove, senior Ali Sherman thinks secondhand smoke is undesirable, but the difference is Sherman smokes between seven and 10 cigarettes a day, while Bove has never smoked before.
“I think it’s gross,” Sherman said. “I do it, but I don’t like the smell of it, and I certainly understand why people don’t like to be around it.”
Clouding doorways with cigarette smoke is one etiquette area where Sherman thinks smokers are failing. She tries to stay downwind of others and avoids blocking doorways. She’s also trying to reduce the number of cigarettes she smokes each day.
“I really do enjoy smoking, and it’s something I don’t want to abuse,” Sherman said. “It’s like junk food. You know you shouldn’t eat it all the time because it’s bad for you.”
Socializing is a smoking trigger for Sherman; one social trend Sarna said was common, especially if friends are also doing it.
Cigarette smoke can put a damper on social outings for others, like Bove, who have asthma or other respiratory problems. For her, indoor smoking bans like the ones in Lawrence are great.
Sherman also supports smoking bans in restaurants.
“It’s nice to have a cup of coffee and a cigarette, but in general I understand it,” Sherman said. “In the bars it should be up to the proprietors, but in restaurants it should never be allowed.”
The smoke-free air laws and the increase in cigarette prices were the two main causes noted in the report for the decrease in college-aged smokers. It also noted that during the transitional period between high school and college, young adults were most likely to pick up the habit; so advertising is being targeted toward college students, especially through sponsorships.
“Some do it just because they’re away from their parents for the first time,” Sarna said. “They think it’s the cool thing to do, that ‘I’m going to drink and smoke.'”
Bowerman began smoking when he was a freshman and found it helps relieve anxiety. He said his parents are very against the monetary and physical costs of smoking and aren’t the only ones who bother him about it.
“When people see me on campus smoking people are always harassing me saying ‘Oh my god, that’s so bad for you.’ I know exactly what it does to me,” he said.
Bowerman pointed out a double standard in health perceptions between views of tanning and smoking, one that became even more noticeable after he spent the summer working at a surgery center.
“I didn’t tell any of my coworkers that I’m a smoker,” he said. “When someone came in with lung cancer they’d turn to me and say don’t ever smoke. If someone came in to remove a lump or a mole or something, they wouldn’t ever say don’t tan. It’s a weird social stigma.”
The American Cancer Society expects 8,420 people to die in 2008 from melanoma, which causes the majority of skin cancer deaths.