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Efforts to Reduce Smoking Among College Students Essay

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Smoking has been reduced over the past two decades, but “cigarette smoking among college students is of concern because the smoking prevalence among college students did not decrease as it did among the general population,” (Harrar et al. 121). This statement shows the significance of efforts to reduce smoking among college students. I believe college campuses would benefit from a “no-smoking policy”. This policy would serve to eliminate the harmful effects of smoking and second-hand smoke on campuses. If students and faculty are not permitted to smoke on campus, they will have to travel off campus to smoke. Therefore, if smoking on campus property is prohibited, smokers will be inconvenienced, so many students may quit or at least …show more content…

Although this shows why people continue to smoke, I believe there is another aspect of using tobacco that is more important. This aspect is why people start to use tobacco products. Without motive to begin using tobacco, countless lives would be saved, and the addictive drug found in tobacco would not be an issue (Murphy-Hoefer, Alder, and Higbee 371). There are many reasons why people begin using tobacco products, and it has been shown that 88% of smokers that smoke on a daily basis report that they started using tobacco products by the age of eighteen (CDC). This statistic supports emphasis on trying to reduce smoking for young adults and teenagers. Many teenagers claim that they began smoking to “fit in”. Numerous young people also admit to trying tobacco products because of peer pressure and social situations. Teenagers are more likely to conform to fit in with a certain group, or to meet a certain social norm because they want others to like them. Believe it or not, peer pressure can be a very powerful thing. Although many people like to view themselves as being in control, others can easily influence the mind. This explains why so many teenagers and young adults give in to smoking cigarettes or using other tobacco products. Being an eighteen-year-old college student, I understand that life is very stressful and that it sometimes can be hard to fit in. However, I also believe that there are

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