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