Shifts in American
Up In Smoke:
Issues Concerning Social
Smoking on College Campuses,
and what Penn State Can Do
About It
Dana C. Pirrotta
Smoking & an Unhealthy Lifestyle
According to the Archives of Internal
Medicine, an unhealthy lifestyle is a
lifestyle where a person engages in activities
that are known to be detrimental to ones
health.1 Some of these activities are
obvious, such as poor diet and exercise
habits. However, the aim of this campaign is
to reach out to Penn State Faculty in regards
to the new issues surrounding the rise of
social smoking on campuses nation-wide,
and address what Penn State can do to help
curb this preventable health crisis. Social
smoking is part of an unhealthy lifestyle,
and while the University has made ample
efforts to encourage a healthy diet and
promote exercise, more can be done to
abolish social smoking, ultimately
encouraging overall wellness.
Smoking Behaviors
As a whole, the past forty years have
boasted a significant decline in smoking for
the adult population. We have gone from a
whopping 42% of the adult population in
1965 smoking to a diminished 20% in
2010.2 However, unfortunately this is not
the case when addressing young adults
(individuals aged 18-25).3 Young adults
have the highest prevalence of smoking
compared to every other age group, and
racial studies have dictated that white
individuals have the highest prevalence over
all. According to a study under ACB news,
over one third of colleges students are
smoking.4 Our American youth are
beginning to embrace smoking cross
culturally, and at alarming rates.5
What do these shifts reflect, and why?
In 2012, of high school graduates were
successfully enrolled in a university or
college, most of which are four year
institutions.6 Many young Americans
smoke, and the majority of young
Americans attend college, so it is only
logical that taking an in-depth look into the
correlation is warranted.
For quite some time, there has been the
widespread assumption that over 90% of
those who became permanent smokers
would begin their habit before they even
reached 18.7 Under this view, the prime time
to be considered vulnerable to tobacco
would be in between the years of middle
school and high school. This mindset,
however, has been debunked because we
have discovered that 20% of smokers begin
smoking after the age 18.8 Surveys
conducted nationwide show that it is
increasingly common for college students to
start smoking when they come to college
their freshmen year. On top of that, tobacco
researchers have recognized that divergent
patterns of smoking are more common.
Some individuals remain low-level smokers
and do not follow the predicted trajectory
of increased cigarette consumption. This
means that many individuals smoke
frequently without being considered a full-
blown smoker. 30% of all college students
in the United States report smoking at least
once in the past year, 25% report once in the
last month, and 12% smoke at least daily.9
Research has shown that smoking
behaviors acquired in older adolescence and
early adulthood are more likely to persist
through later life10 The study goes on to say
that more than half of college freshmen who
begin smoking their first year of college will
still be smoking when they are seniors. This
is because what started as social smoking, or
smoking on occasion at parties eventually
turns into an established pattern. Thats
when the addiction sets in, and students
struggle to quit.
The smoking behavior of college students is
much more flexible and fluid than that of
adults. Penn State claims that 9% of their
student body smokes, but University Health
Services defines a smoker as someone who
smokes daily. 11 Unfortunately, many
college students that smoke do not smoke
daily, so we can assume that this number is
not as accurate as we would hope. Studies
suggest that the number of individuals aged
18 and 19 years in the early stages of
smoking initiation may be more than double
that of established smokers aged 18 years.
This means that the population of young
adults smoking will double the population
of established smokers. Those who turned
their noses to smoking may puff in college
social settings, and our data cant keep up.
So, how do College Kids
describe their smoking?
The majority of us are aware of the dangers
of smoking, and unfortunately, the majority
of smokers become life-long smokers before
the ripe age of 24.12 This means that our
college years are critical when it comes to
decisions regarding tobacco. Cigarette
smoking in college is often a social activity,
and those who smoke socially do not
consider themselves smokers. 83% of
college students that smoke socially do not
consider themselves smokers, even though
their smoking habits may mimic those of
established smokers.13
So, how do many of us and our peers
describe their smoking habits? Well, most
wouldnt even classify it as a habit. Very
few students on college campus classify
themselves as real smokers, but rather,
party smokers, or social smokers.14
These last two terms are used to describe
smoking that only takes place during social
functions. Because the majority of college
students classify themselves as social
smokers, they think very little after finishing
one or two cigarettes. Students that believe
they smoke socially do not see their
smoking as a big deal.
Why is Social Smoking a Problem?
Social smokers do not usually smoke every
day, but rather whenever they find
themselves in the proper situation to.15
Social smoking is an umbrella term, and it is
important to note that while it is being
discussed among college students, it refers
to students that smoke after drinking or at
social outings. But, to be clear, social
smoking often means different things for
different ages- a middle-aged store
employee may enjoy a smoke break with his
or her colleagues as a way to relax or bond.
Recent years have seen a burgeoning
epidemiological and psychological literature
on social smoking, which is also referred to
as light, low-level, and intermittent
smoking.16 Defining these terms can
quickly become tricky if you focus solely on
the number of cigarettes smoked.17 At this
point in our lives, we all know that smoking
has extremely negative effects for the body,
but despite these definitions, the majority of
students do not classify themselves as real
smokers, and are convinced that cigarettes
were merely just a college thing.
However, as students reach their graduation
dates, they may find one hand holding a
diploma, and a cigarette in the other. Many
of those who smoked expressed various
degrees of ambivalence or reluctance to quit.
Quit plans seemed to move farther into a
distant ambiguous future, something that
might be reconsidered at the next life
milestone, such as getting a real job or
starting a family.18
College students view their smoking habits
very differently than those reporting on their
behaviors. Researchers will use the term
current smoker to address anyone who has
smoked within the past month (30 days).
When interviewing girls at the Ohio State
University, researcher Anthony Martinez
asked freshman women one simple question,
Would you call yourself a smoker? Those
who admitted to smoking occasionally
seemed annoyed and quickly clarified
their behavior by making comments like I
smoke, but Im not a smoker, and I only
smoke when I am partying. These girls
clearly saw a difference between their
smoking habits, and those of what they
considered to be of an actual smoker.
From their perspectives, there was a
distinction between those who really
smoked and their own behavior. Their image
of a smoker was someone who bought
cigarettes and really had to have one.19
Another similar survey developed for the
same project found that while 30% of the
freshman girls smoked (out of 205 involved
in the study), just over of them described
themselves as someone who smoked but is
not a smoker, or again, someone who only
smokes socially at parties.20 When the study
was repeated with over 600 girls at
Midwestern University, over 40% gave
similar answers, reflecting the idea that most
college smokers do not identify themselves
as smokers.
Recently, Carla Berg and some of her
colleagues examined the college student
concept of smoker identity. To be specific,
these researchers wanted to understand how
frequently and how many cigarettes college
students smoked, and statistically, what
played into the personal identity of being
considered a smoker or not. They surveyed
over 12,000 college students nationally, and
found that 25% had smoked in the past
month. Of the students that had smoked
between three and five days in the past
month, 92% did not consider themselves
smokers. Those who smoked on 6 to 9 days
boasted a shocking 75% who did not
consider themselves smokers. And those
who had smoked ten to 19 days in the past
month, 45% did not identify as smokers. To
conclude the study, Berg discovered that
half of the entire survey did not consider
themselves smokers, regardless of their
smoking frequency.21 This study may reveal
that smoking is a lot more common than
current statistics reveal, and that smoking
has a different definition to college students.
Does Defining Yourself as a Nonsmoker
Matter?
While there is not one answer to this
question, those who tend to smoke on a non-
daily basis usually tend to do so for many
years.
Low level smokers believe that they are not
recipients of the same negatives of usual
smokers, and are under the impression that
they will quit shortly. There has been more
evidence suggesting that these social
smokers have the same difficulty quitting.
Among college smokers who begin smoking
once arriving at college, more than 50%
have tried to quit, with only 6% finding
success. 22
Tobacco has health risks that almost begin
right after the first cigarette. Recent studies
have shown that symptoms of nicotine
dependence can develop very rapidly after
the beginning of intermittent smoking. That
means, that there is not a minimum dose or
period of time that one must smoke to
establish a pattern of dependence. Nicotine
dependence can begin as early as after just
one or two cigarettes. Generally, the
transition from college women smoking
their first cigarette into become daily low-
level smokers (having one or two cigarettes
a day) takes on average only two months.23
If you dont identify as a smoker even
though you are, you are inadvertently
putting yourself at risks for a number of
health concerns.
Although the population sees social and
occasional smoking as less detrimental than
daily smoking, these light-smoking patterns
also come with their own negative health
outcomes. Occasional smoking, as defined
in one study as at least five days out of a
month, can increase shortness of breath and
fatigue experiencing normal, everyday
activities such as walking and climbing
steps. When compared to students that have
never smoked, social smokers are at
increased risk for cardiovascular disease,
lower respiratory tract infection, and
compromised reproductive health, among
other health conditions
The tobacco industry has made great strides
in misleading the public with branding that
includes terms such as light, mild and
even ultra-light. This is an enormous
misconception because no matter what kind
or brand of cigarette you
smoke, it still has all of
the same negative health
attributes. There is no
cigarette that is a
healthier
choice. Even cigarettes
labeled as addictive
free still contain the
usual contents of
nicotine and other toxic components.24
Students often join in on what is often called
optimism bias, which is the tendency to
view the risks of such behaviors as lower
than they are for others who participate in
the same behaviors.25 By only smoking
every once in a while, and only smoking
Marlboro Lights, students believe that
they are not true smokers and are better off
than those who smoke daily. Students that
smoke socially dismiss the potential health
concerns of tobacco and even more
worrisome- completely ignore messages
persuading them to quit.
Why is smoking on our
Campus a problem?
Smoking and University Culture
Two Penn State students, Tiana Lukas and
Lisa Tubb, were drafted by the Universitys
Health Works Program to create a short
video dispelling common misconceptions
about Penn State regarding smoking. The
pair revealed that 25% of Penn State
students smoke daily through the most
recent PULSE survey26, but failed to
estimate how many would socially smoke
multiple times in a given week or month.
Within a party culture, alcohol exists, and
the link between alcohol and cigarettes is
strong.
Most of Penn State students at some point or
another make it out to a famous Penn State
party. At most of these parties, alcohol is
consumed, and after a couple drinks, it is not
uncommon to see someone light a cigarette
for a quick smoke. The link between
drinking and smoking is a cultural
phenomenon, and has been referenced in
pop songs and depicted in movies for
decades. For example a popular KISS song,
Detroit City, boasts the lyric, first I drink,
then I smoke. And while crowds love this
line positioned before an awe inspiring
electric guitar solo, we have to wonder, why
is it that we often reach for a cigarette a few
drinks in? Even individuals that have never
smoked a day in their life might look
longingly at a cigarette- even if tobacco is
something they have sworn off. So, why do
students break their D.A.R.E
commandments and smoke after a few
drinks?
According to science, the desire to smoke
comes from a more physiological place then
it does the need to complete a social
behavior. Scientists at the University of
Missouri believe that we all crave cigarettes
when we are drunk because, simply put,
nicotine is a simulant. Pretty much, when we
drink, we feel sleepy. This is because
alcohol is a depressant.27 Naturally, our
body wants to be balanced, and the nicotine
that we find in cigarettes is a stimulant and
helps us reach that homeostasis. Researchers
at the Baylor College of Medicine found that
stress hormones and the brains pleasure
center could also be responsible.28
What can Penn State Do?
Cigarette smoking on college campuses has
created a huge public health issue due to the
increases of social smoking among college
students, and our university is no different.
Encourage Students to use the Programs
Penn State Already Offers
The faculty needs to encourage one of Penn
States University Health Services
programs, the Freedom from Smoking
Program. This program, offered by Health
Promotion and Wellness, is facilitated by an
educator who has been trained and certified
by the American Lung Association.29 This
program is seven weeks long, and designed
to help students quit smoking, prevent
relapses, and remain smoke free. Each
module is discussed weekly, and addresses
each portion of the quitting process, such as
how to control nicotine cravings, and how to
manage weight gain while quitting.
According to a study of female students at
Florida State University, 16% of smokers
began smoking in order to stay skinny and
manage weight.30 Smoking with the goal of
weight loss is often not considered by the
public eye, and that's why trained sessions
like this are extremely important. This
program is designed to help students quit,
and is completely free.31
This program is not advertised outside of
University Health services, which means
that many students who could utilize a
program like this have little to no means of
finding it unless they go out and search for it
on their own- which can be daunting to a
college student. This program is an
important resource that needs to be
introduced to the student body their first day
on campus, posted in residence halls all over
campus, and advertised in public locations
such as the HUB and in each months
edition of Stall Stories.
Create New Programs Required for First
Year Students
Creating a University Health Services
program or informational seminar for social
smokers would be extremely helpful. First
year college students should be required to
take educational online modules about social
smoking, just as they are required to take
said modules on drugs and alcohol. By
aligning the dangers of social smoking with
the dangers of alcohol and drugs, students
would be less likely to pick up that initial
cigarette at a party and will understand the
health risks associated with smoking
socially. It is important for students to
recognize that no matter how you define
your personal smoking identity, smoking is
unhealthy regardless. One cigarette a week
is more harmful than no cigarettes a week.
Emphasize Focus on the Smoking Ban
Initiative
Many campuses have
gone above and beyond
and have created
campus-wide smoking
bans. The University of
Vermont and the
University of
Massachusetts at
Amherst, for example, have campus wide
smoking bans, meaning that cigarettes are
not tolerated anywhere on the campus.32
Personally, I believe that this is the best
solution to combat smoking on our
campuses and prevent social smoking from
ever occurring for many individuals. If
students need to walk off campus to enjoy a
cigarette in between classes and after meals,
students that smoke socially during these
situations would be inconvenienced. This
would lead them down either two paths, one
being that they are turned away from social
smoking because a great deal of social
smoking opportunities have been
diminished, or two, they will realize their
addiction and attend the programs offered to
help quit.
Penn States initiative to ban smoking on
campus began in the 1990s. According to
articles .posted by the Daily Collegian,
Penn State has banned smoking in all
university class buildings since 1989, and
smoking was successfully banned in the
dorms in 1996. The possibility of turning the
university into a completely smoke-free
environment has been contested for quite
some time, with minimal to moderate
progress. This smoke free initiative has been
recently kick started in 2014, but now,
President Barron has made more strides to
enact this ban. President Eric Barron, along
with his 17-member task force, announced
that they are currently working in an effort
to [prohibit] the use of tobacco and any
products that create smoke, such as
cigarettes and e-cigarettes, anywhere on
university property.33 The University
Park undergraduate association has
historically supported the movement since
its announcement in 2014, but since then,
there has been a great deal of disagreement
with the initiative. Most, if not all, the
disagreement stems from the smoking
population who believes that they have the
right to smoke on campus.
Personally, I believe that creating the ban
would lead to a healthier, happier campus
and an environment that prioritizes students
health.
Students that smoke before attending college
will either be forced to quit before attending
Penn State, or find another dream school.
Students that begin Penn State in the fall
will be deterred from smoking, and will
most likely look down on social smoking as
it is something the university clearly will not
support. Students that are already full-blown
smokers, such as my very own brother, will
be forced to find help and deal with their
addiction through the programs Penn State
has in place. By banning smoking on
campus, smokers will be forced to quit, and
social smokers will be turned off from the
habit. New students will also not be
encouraged to smoke or socially smoke, and
students who do neither, like myself, will no
longer have to breathe in the smoke that
pollutes our beautiful campus on a walk to
class.
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