Cigarette smoking is becoming increasingly popular among college age students around the nation– even here at VSU.

Even though we pay it no mind (unless you happen to sit next to the guy that smells like a pack of cigarettes) campus is full of students smoking.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) one third of college aged students use some form of tobacco. The majority of the one third can be attributed to traditional freshman students experimenting with tobacco products. JAMA also reports that more than 60 percent of college students have tried a tobacco product— specifically cigarettes.

Most students are socially pressured into trying a cigarette. Major tobacco companies target young adults from 18-24 years old hoping to hook them at an early age and thereby creating lifetime consumers.

With social pressures and big time advertising it’s no surprise so many college students are starting to smoke despite its known health risks and fatal effects.

Out of the 4.000 chemical compounds that make up a cigarette, 69 of them are known to cause cancer. Some of the same chemical compounds found in lighter fluid, toilet cleaner, battery acid and rat poison are also found in a cigarette.

Students should consider that the next time they decide to fire up a cigarette. Or they can even look at the smoke free commercials created by the US Department of Health and Human Services, which show personal accounts of the effects of tobacco smoking.

There are few, if any, pros to smoking. Many users feel the urge to smoke a cigarette to relieve stress and calm their nerves. However, there are many other alternatives to relieve stress such as going to the gym.

The American Cancer Society offers the Freshstart smoking cessation program for VSU students and faculty that are trying to quit. With the major health risk associated with smoking, it’s wise to not even pick up the habit.