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LIGHTING UP en masse
[the lethal addiction behind social smoking]
By Ariel Tilson atlison@kansan.com
For me, smoking started as an occasional guilty pleasure. Many of the friends I hung out with lit up after a few drinks and in a moment of weakness, I decided to give it a try. I was surprised by how well the smoky flavor of tobacco complemented the sweet, bitter taste of alcohol. I felt so oothed. Soon, I craved a smoke with my first drink of the night as much as I craved pizza after last call.
I marvel at how many people my age still hover downtown around patio heaters and shiver outside bar doors obscured in clouds of smoke. Although the number of heavy smokers has decreased during the past 30 years, according to the American Lung Association's Trend in Tobacco Use 2008 report, smoking prevalence is the highest among young adults aged 18 to 24, and 23.7 percent of young adults still smoke. Like drinking cheap liquor and eating fatty foods, it seems social smoking has become an integral part of the college experience. But I'm left wondering how this "casual" habit affects our health and if we can really just give it up when we graduate.
Nice to meet you. Got a light?
Ginger, Robin and Annika, who asked their last names not be used, huddle together on the stairs at the back of the Eighth Street Tap Room. They say that they're social smokers, but in truth their smoking habits vary. Annika, a former KU student from Lawrence, says she considers herself a social smoker because she only smokes about one cigarette per month. She says she doesn't buy her own cigarettes but bums them from friends when she goes out. Her friend, Ginger, Lawrence senior, says she smokes about half a pack per week. She says usually she and her friend, Robin, another former KU student from Lawrence, buy a pack and split it. All of them say they don't really smoke any other time than when they're drinking with friends.
I've heard people innocently label themselves social smokers, but is social smoking really less harmful than regular smoking? At some point my smoking evolved into a daily habit, but I'm not sure how or when I made that transition. The idea that you can smoke socially without getting addicted is purely a myth, says Joseph DiFranza, professor of family medicine at the University of Massachusetts. DiFranza says social smoking is a misleading and unscientific term because, in reality, you form an addictive relationship with your nicotine-filled buddy at first puff.
In order to analyze how quickly nicotine dependency occurs, DiFranza and his colleagues developed a 10-question survey called the "Hooked on Nicotine Checklist" and in Spring 2004 administered it to college students in Mississippi. The survey determined tobacco dependence based on a person's loss of autonomy, or when that person was unable to stop smoking without difficulty. The more questions they answered yes to, the more difficult quitting would be for them. The results of the survey showed that students didn't need to smoke daily for an addiction to develop. The study also suggested that women answered yes to more questions than men and developed symptoms of dependence much faster.
I'm not sick. I'm a smoker.
When I'm pushing myself at the gym, I can feel the tightness in my chest worsen after a night of heavy smoking. You don't have
10
January 29, 2009
Photo illustration by Ryan McGeeney
Take a puff. Almost one-fourth of young adults aged 18 to 24 smoke cigarettes.