"Social smoking" prevalant at Hopkins
The relatively new phenomenon of social smoking has risen nationally in the past few years, and this trend has become especially prevalent on college campuses.
According to the Center for Disease Control, an estimated 45 million adults in the United States smoke cigarettes, and 24 percent reported that they smoke occasionally. Nearly half of college smokers consider themselves some-day smokers or social smokers.
There is no single official definition for social or casual smoking, but it is generally characterized by smoking less than a pack a week, not every day and only in social situations.
The social environment and academic pressures of college often compel students to begin smoking. According to the Associate Director of the Center for Health Education and Wellness Barbara Gwinn, college students are the primary targets of tobacco companies and are especially susceptible to social smoking.
"This age group is heavily influenced by marketing ploys and strategies that encourage smoking. New social situations in combination with peer pressure may turn students, who rarely or never smoked before college, into addicted users. Freshmen are predominantly vulnerable because they are away from home and without parental supervision, possibly for the first time in their lives," Gwinn said.
For many college students, being friends with smokers or going to parties where people are smoking facilitates the adoption of the habit.
"I started because some of my friends smoked, so I would occasionally bum a cigarette off one of them [when] we were out," a senior, who wished to remain anonymous, said. "I used to smoke all the time, especially when drunk. I stopped because I didn't want the negative health consequences, but I think that some people probably smoke because if everyone else is smoking at a party, [you] are more inclined to smoke."
On top of social reasons, plain curiosity has also prompted students to begin smoking.
According to the Center for Disease Control, an estimated 45 million adults in the United States smoke cigarettes, and 24 percent reported that they smoke occasionally. Nearly half of college smokers consider themselves some-day smokers or social smokers.
There is no single official definition for social or casual smoking, but it is generally characterized by smoking less than a pack a week, not every day and only in social situations.
The social environment and academic pressures of college often compel students to begin smoking. According to the Associate Director of the Center for Health Education and Wellness Barbara Gwinn, college students are the primary targets of tobacco companies and are especially susceptible to social smoking.
"This age group is heavily influenced by marketing ploys and strategies that encourage smoking. New social situations in combination with peer pressure may turn students, who rarely or never smoked before college, into addicted users. Freshmen are predominantly vulnerable because they are away from home and without parental supervision, possibly for the first time in their lives," Gwinn said.
For many college students, being friends with smokers or going to parties where people are smoking facilitates the adoption of the habit.
"I started because some of my friends smoked, so I would occasionally bum a cigarette off one of them [when] we were out," a senior, who wished to remain anonymous, said. "I used to smoke all the time, especially when drunk. I stopped because I didn't want the negative health consequences, but I think that some people probably smoke because if everyone else is smoking at a party, [you] are more inclined to smoke."
On top of social reasons, plain curiosity has also prompted students to begin smoking.
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