[C-U Smokefree] College students, alcohol and tobacco

[Hygeiansf at aol.com]

Hi there--

FYI.

Alcohol consumption and tobacco use initiation are very intimately linked 
together, thus palcing the significance of efforts to develop a smokefree 
ordinance in Champaign-Urbana at much higher levels. (CU being the seat of a major 
midwestern university and sadly the demographic gem of the tobacco industry--the 
tobacco industry is all over the palce out there).

Keep up the good work CU- Smoke Free Alliance!

Theo Tsoukalas, Ph.D.

Article Follows from Minnesota

Last update: May 24, 2004 at 6:40 AM


Where there's booze ... there's smoking

Josephine Marcotty,  Star Tribune May 24, 2004SMOKE0524

Order a drink. Light up a smoke.

It's an old marriage of habits that soon might be divorced in Minneapolis and 
St. Paul if the City Councils pass proposed smoking bans in bars and 
restaurants on both sides of the river.

By wrecking that marriage, tobacco control experts hope not only to clear the 
barroom air for nonsmokers, but also to put the brakes on an alarming trend 
in Minnesota. A growing number of young adults smoke their first cigarette in a 
bar and many light up only when they drink. 

"For young adults who are social smokers, a ban in bars could have a major 
impact," said Harry Lando, a University of Minnesota professor and 
nicotine-addiction specialist. "That is a primary place where they smoke."

And that's where many become addicted.

 Drink and a smoke
Richard Sennott
Star Tribune

Recent research shows that nearly 40 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds smoke at 
least once in a while, and almost always when they drink. 

About 7 percent of them say they are occasional smokers -- meaning they do it 
when they socialize. And though surveys show that many say they think they 
will quit, some unknown number will go on to be addicted for years or for the 
rest of their lives, experts say.

"We know that smoke-free workplaces help people quit," said Jeanne Weigum, a 
pro-ordinance tobacco activist in St. Paul. If the smoking bans pass, "we are 
going to see a tremendous public health benefit for that age group," she said.

The smoke-drink link

Addiction experts have known for years that there is a powerful link between 
alcohol and tobacco. The vast majority of alcoholics are smokers, compared 
with 23 percent of the adult population, according to researchers.

And nicotine-addiction counselors say they encourage smokers who are trying 
to quit to stay away from alcohol.

"You have to change behavior closely linked to smoking," said Dr. Richard 
Hurt, a nicotine-addiction specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. "If that's 
drinking, which it is more often than not, don't do it -- at least 
temporarily."

In fact, drinking is one of the most common reasons most former smokers light 
up again, said Dr. Michael Fiore, director of the Center for Tobacco Research 
and Intervention at the University of Wisconsin.

"If we ask them what they were doing when they relapsed, half of them had 
alcohol in their bloodstream," Fiore said.

A college habit

For college students and young adults, that connection is even stronger. Matt 
Huntington and Ryan Pitman are a case in point. They are twenty-somethings 
who recently stopped in at Stub & Herb's in Minneapolis before heading to a 
Twins game. Each had a drink -- and a pack of Camel Lights -- sitting on the table 
in front of him.

Pitman, 27, said he's a regular smoker and is addicted to nicotine. Hu
ntington, 26, however, is one of those occasional smokers identified by tobacco 
researchers.

"Nowadays, I smoke when I drink," he said. "I have a lot of friends who smoke 
when they drink."

And in the course of the next hour he had a couple of beers -- and more than 
a couple of cigarettes.

He said he can control the smoking. He doesn't smoke at home, even when he 
has a beer at the end of the day. He doesn't mind going for a couple of days 
without a smoke.

But two or three times a week he goes out to bars and clubs and bums 
cigarettes from his friends.

"He's one of those bad influences," Huntington said, nodding at Pitman.

Both dislike the idea of a smoking ban on bars and restaurants because they 
don't think the government should tell business owners what to do. At the same 
time, they could not come up with a reason why it should be OK to smoke in a 
bar or restaurant, but not at work, other than that "smoking and drinking go 
together," Pitman said.

Both plan to stop -- sometime. They know how hard that would be while hanging 
out in bars. Pitman said that if he could drink in a bar without craving a 
cigarette, then he'd know he'd succeeded in quitting.

"That would be the litmus test," he said. "That's how I know I made it," he 
said.

And yeah, he said, it would be a whole lot easier if smoking weren't allowed 
in bars.

For many young adults, the connection of drinking, smoking and socializing 
begins in college.

A survey of 1,650 Minnesota college students at five campuses in 2002 showed 
that a third of the smokers smoked consistently throughout the week -- and 42 
percent of them said they smoked briefly once in a while.

"That's at parties," said Joel Loveland, who managed the research for the 
Center for Tobacco Reduction and Health Improvement, the research arm of Blue 
Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota.

For kids in college, smoking and drinking are intertwined with risk-taking. 
Loveland said many college kids believe that they are activities that they will 
do only while in college. In fact, 69 percent think drinking is acceptable, 
50 percent think smoking is acceptable and 9 percent think illegal drug use is 
acceptable, the survey showed.

And what's their image of a smoker? Three-fourths said unhealthy, and 68 
percent said "partier."

Tobacco experts say that's not surprising, because much of the tobacco 
industry's advertising and marketing occur in bars and emphasize the party message.

"They go to places where college students go to have fun," Loveland said.

And though most of the college students in the survey say they know they 
should quit, they don't want to try in college because they like to smoke when 
they drink, Loveland said.

"Alcohol use is so prevalent and the association between alcohol and tobacco 
is so strong, it would be difficult to quit during those years," Loveland 
said. 

By a six-to-one margin, those surveyed said it is extremely important not to 
smoke once they graduate, and the majority say that's when they'll stop, 
Loveland said.

"But the naive part is that 25-year-olds still go to bars," he added.


    


 
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