8 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, August 9, 1995
Marlboro, owned by Philip Morris Cos., is
the nation's No. 1 cigarette brand.
. In the first quarter of 1995 Philip Morris's
U.S. cigarette business posted an operating
income of $874 million - up 15 percent from
one year earlier.
M'i rib iii
'A curious
buzz': Why
people smoke
Thirty-one years have passed since
the surgeon general announced that
cigarette smoke is a cause of lung can-
cer, and the smoking community is still
one-fifth of the United States' popula-
tion.
"In 1964 Surgeon General Terry
said, 'debate's
over - tobacco
kills,' (and it) ( ms "'
caused a drop in W
adult and kid
smokers," said >
James Bergman,
former executive
director of Stop
Teenage Addic-
tion to Tobacco. S,
The initial im-
pact of the surgeon
general's an-
nouncement has
diminished, and 1 . p
million people -
80-90 percent un-
dertheageof 18-
start smoking each
year.
A study in the January 1995 edition of
the American Journal of Public Health
said that one reason underage smoking is
on the rise is because public education
campaigns have primarily focused on
drugs such as cocaine and marijuana.
"This emphasis may have implied
that tobacco use was not as serious a
problem as drug use," the study con-
cluded.
Despite the health risks, many students
continue to smoke.
"I can't remember that far back," said
Ann Arbor resident and University
graduate Mark Eisner. Eisner said he is
not even sure how long he has smoked. "I
think I started when I was 15 or 16," he
said.
A study in The Joumal of Applied Psy-
chology in January 1994 found that it is
friends, particularly potential friends, who
exert the most influence on an outsider's
decision to smoke.
According to the study, when a per-
son wants to be friends with a group of
people, the person is more susceptible to
conform, and therefore to mimic group
ByD
D a
behavior.
Some smokers said they had other
reasons for picking up a cigarette.
"I was at a party, someone said it
would increase your buzz, so, there you
go," said Christian Busch, an SNRE se-
nior.
LSA junior Ja-
son Chandler said
he was never pres-
S sured by his peers
to start smoking.
"I was working
at a job around
people who were
r '. smoking and I was
curious about it.... It
was a curious buzz,"
he said. "Most of the
people I hung
around with didn't
smoke. No, I
wouldn't say there
Jason Chandler was peer pressure
involved."
LSA junior Busch said that
he and his friends
started smoking around the same time,
and that before he started to smoke, he
had been strongly opposed to it. "I'd al-
ways tell my mom not to smoke," he
said.
Ann Arbor resident Chris Winkowski
said the pleasure of smoking was what
prompted him to start. "It's a nice, civil
drug to have. ... It's a quick fix, probably
the best reason there is to start .... but it dies
after time," he said.
According to the American Journal
of Public Health, smoking rates among
adolescents declined until the late
1980s, when the rate of decline leveled
Cassie Glessner, a junior at the University, takes a long drag on her cigarette at the Amer's on State Street on Monday n
houses in Ann Arbor to offer a smoking section to patrons who are at least 18 years of age.
off.
University researcher Lloyd
Johnston said that the change is caused
by a decriminalization of cigarette smok-
ing.
"There has been a clear weakening of
peer norms against smoking," he said in
a press release for his 1995 study that
documents an increase in smoking
among eighth graders.
Bergman said that because
Johnston's study shows 13 as the aver-
age age children start smoking. it
b bhe. W1e
ily Staff Repo
means that 8 or 9-year-olds are smoking.
Smoking studies focus on the under-S18
group because few adults start smoking
after 19, Bergman said.
Dianne May, a public health consult-
ant at the Michigan Department of Public
Health, said that although visible anti-
smoking campaigns help, other measures
are necessary to reduce adolescent smok-
ing.
"When dealing with kids, just putting
posters in classrooms is not very effective.
... Legislative methods of controlling its
use is needed," she said.
The American Journal of Public
Health said that it is not sure if the in-
crease in underage smoking is caused by
an increase in cigarette advertising, or in-
adequate education effort.
Johnston said that it is necessary to
revise the way people perceive smok-
ing.
"Cigarettes will kill far more of
today's children than all other drugs
combined, including alcohol. ... If ciga-
rette smoking killed quickly, like drunk
driving does, the country would be treat-
ing the current rates of adolescent smok-
ing as an extreme emergency."
Hstein
rte r
Compound
Arsenic
Benzene Hydrazine
Formaldehyde
Tar
Vinyl Chloride
Urethane
Lead
Cadmium
Nickel
Polonium-210
Acetaldehyde
Common Usage
Ant poison
Fuel Component
Preservative
Asphalt.
PVC Component
Wood Stain,
Heavy metal
Car batteries
Heavy metal
Radioactive
Solvent
The truth behind
the toxins
With more than 4,000 chemicals in
tobacco smoke, often you're inhaling
compounds that have everyday uses.
Carcinogens in cigarettes
Cigarette
Editor s note: Both the Philip Morris
utmpany and RJR Nabisco Cos. reise, d to
answer.questions about the Marlboro Ge*
and Cartel Cash campaigns.
An administrative assistant at Philip
Morris said the conmany would not coti-
iment because they could not control wo
would read t/is publication, and that it is
comipanvypolkynot to speak to anvstudent.
The Tobacco Institute, a lobbr orga-
nication based in Washington, D.C., also
refused to commtient.
The catalog says, "Head out, Ride
Hard, Kick Back and Gear up" and inside
are pictures of cowboy boots, beat-up
cense plates, down coats and hammocks.
An outdoors catalogue?
No, it's Marlboro Gear, part of a cam-
paign that has included the Marlboro
Country Store and the Marlboro Adven-
ture Team. To purchase these products
only requires Marlboro miles, which ar
found on packs of Marlboro cigarettes.
Marlboro Gear and Camel Cash, twoc
programs that offer merchandise in ex-
change for UPC codes, spend part of
$4 to $5 billion cigarette companies bud-
get for advertising each year.
A study conducted by The American
Journal of Public Health in January 1995
said that money toward promotional cam
Toxins in cigarettes
Compound
Cyanide
Ammonia
Acetone
Nicotine
Carbon Monoxide
Butane
Toluene
Common Usage
Rat poison
Floor cleaner
Polish remover
Insecticide
Car exhaust
Lighter fluid
Industrial solvent
Source: Michigan eparment f Putlic
Health