Road to becoming smoke-free rough for many college-age people
by Matthew Dolbey, Campus Editor
“It is cool to smoke cigarettes,” Charlie Pubert, a University of Wisconsin sophomore and smoker since high school, said in an interview right after asking a fellow student for a smoke. “Cool people smoke; dorks don’t.”
Even though Pubert may say it is cool to smoke, he does admit to trying to kick the habit.
“Yeah, I’ve tried gum, the patch … ” Pubert revealed.
This is a similar story many smokers tell. They start smoking in high school and try to quit numerous times, but cannot quite put down the match.
Pubert went on to explain why it is so hard to quit.
“It’s addicting, chemically, but you get used to having the stick in your mouth,” Pubert said. He added that the drinking scene at or around college campuses only worsens a smoker’s battle. “Once you start drinking, you lose your inhibitions (about quitting). I didn’t start to really smoke heavily until halfway through freshman year.”
Angie Stefenel, a student at Madison Area Technical College, said a reason that it is difficult to quit is because smoking is socially acceptable.
“It’s harder to quit when everyone around you does it,” Stefenel said, adding the college atmosphere is oftentimes conducive to smoking. She also said people do not quit even though they may know smoking is not healthy for them.
“I personally think when people tell you not to smoke, you’re gonna smoke.”
Recent UW graduate Whitney Connors said he was struggling to kick the habit.
“I fucking hate (smoking),” Connors said. “It’s a companion … it’s something to hold on to. If I had a lady, I wouldn’t smoke.”
Connors later disclosed that this is his first week of being smoke-free, but he added it is “because of a lady.”
Clinical Director of Psychiatry at University Health Services Eric Heiligensten, M.D., agreed that many smokers have the desire to quit, but the way some go about it is hard. “Everyone wants to (quit) themselves,” Dr. Heiligensten said. “Many students try to quit cold turkey, and they can’t do it on their own.”
The thought of lung cancer may scare some tobacco users into stopping, but Heiligensten said there is more than just the terminal-illness side of smoking that should drive people away from cigarettes.
“The subtle parts of smoking are the ones that people tend to minimize,” Heiligensten said. “Their quality of life will be far diminished.”
He revealed that even though students come in particularly for cessation treatment or therapy, many more students come in for repetitive colds and several sore throats in a single season and never realize it is due to smoking.
“We always ask if a patient is a smoker. We feel it gives the physician an idea of the patient’s overall (health).” After smoking is found to be a possible contributing factor to a students’ mental or physical health, UHS may offer the person a myriad of sources to help him or her stop smoking. These can include counseling, a Wisconsin resident helpline, and tobacco replacement therapy utilizing gum, patches or drugs available, such as Zyban.
