Saturday, November 28, 1998

Smoking is up among nation's college students

Roughly 28 percent of all college students smoked in 1997, up from about 22 percent in 1993, it was recently reported. Most started lighting up in their pre-college teens. By the time they matured enough to recognize the stupidity of their ways, they were hooked.

If there is an answer, it is not as simple as many in politics now pretend. Public anti-smoking campaigns may help if intelligently crafted, but simply making cigarettes more expensive may prove an insufficient barrier to addiction.

Overall smoking is down in the United States, so much so that, it has been estimated, there are more ex-smokers in the country than there are smokers. The reduction occurred largely because of the dissemination of medical information and an ethos of self-accountability.

While young people are sometimes resistant to preaching, it cannot hurt to repeat to them over and over again that smoking can cause lung cancer, heart disease, impotence and a variety of other ills. Parents who don't smoke are less likely to have children who do than are parents who themselves indulge.

And quitting is certainly possible, a fact that should be emphasized to those who already have the habit. For most, it is not easy, but it doesn't get easier as time passes, although the damage gets worse as time passes. In many respects, health does begin improving after people stop smoking, an incentive also worth emphasizing. College students may know all of this, but some friendly concern cannot hurt.