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Tobacco Industry Finds New Frontier In College

Boston Globe . Boston, MA
Thursday, March 22, 2001
by Megan Tench

Beating back life's pressures, streamlining the stress, or simply fitting in: For Jennifer Tarnoff, a Boston University junior, it seemed as easy as pulling out a stick, slipping it between her lips, and striking the match.

For Tarnoff, smoking was a remedy, an occasional puff amid a few laughs, a few drinks, and plenty of friends. But her experimentation became an addiction.

''I didn't think I was a regular smoker,'' said Tarnoff, who is now an intern at the American Cancer Society. ''But then it got to the point when I was buying three packs a day. I was the annoying person that bummed cigarettes off of friends.''

According to two studies, scheduled to be released today by the Harvard School of Public Health, Tarnoff's experience is typical. College students make up 5.3 million adults nationwide. Many of them qualify to be the youngest legal targets of the tobacco industry, researchers said, and their dormitories are becoming breeding grounds for nicotine addicts.

These studies are being released as a landmark tobacco settlement, banning the industry from targeting children, takes effect. So now firms are focusing on 18- to 24-year-olds, observers say.

''There is strong reason to believe the dorms serve as a protective function,'' said Henry Wechsler, principal investigator of both studies and director of college alcohol studies at the Harvard School of Public Health. ''These findings suggest that smoke-free dorms may help incoming college students who have not yet taken up smoking avoid tobacco addiction during college.''

One study, surveying health center directors at 604 four-year US colleges and universities, found that although 81 percent of colleges prohibit smoking in all public areas, only 27 percent prohibit smoking in dormitories. The study also found that 40 percent of colleges surveyed do not offer smoking cessation programs to help students who want to quit.

The other study, which examined smoking habits among 4,495 students at 101 schools nationwide, college students who live in smoke-free dorms are 40 percent less likely to be smokers than are counterparts who live in unrestricted housing.

''Given the vulnerability of college students to this very addictive substance and the negative health effects of secondhand smoke, colleges should seriously consider making all dorms smoke-free,'' Wechsler said in a statement. ''At a minimum, colleges should offer enough smoke-free dorms for all those who are requesting them, which is not the case right now.''

At 18, Rebecca Charrier was convinced that she was merely an occasional smoker. She was going through a period of transition, she said. It was her freshman year at Bridgewater State College, and one of her first life-altering decisions came down to checking off a box on her housing application: Smoking room? Nonsmoking room? She preferred nonsmoking.

''I'm always trying to quit,'' said Charrier, who is now 21.

But because of lack of space in the college dormitories, she ended up in a room full of teenage smokers. It was inevitable; by November, her occasional fix transformed into a habit.

''At the beginning, I was angry,'' said Rebecca's mother, Brenda Charrier. ''I was angry at the lack of concern the officials at the school showed the students and the parents who are paying ... I think it should be made inconvienent for students to smoke.''

Charrier channeled her anger into a campaign to gain support for a bill that would ban smoking in dorms at state colleges.

Greg Connolly, director of the Tobacco Control Program for the Department of Public Health, said the industry tries to lure young smokers by sponsoring club nights aimed at the college crowd. Club nights are often advertised in alternative newspapers such as The Boston Phoenix.

Local clubs and bars, he said, are fertile ground for tobacco companies to market products to an impressionable audience.

''They are framing an environment where it is a safe, acceptable place to smoke,'' Connolly said. ''It is basically a nicotine classroom.''

Tobacco officials disagree.

''A lot of states, the legal smoking age is 18,'' said Steve Kottak, spokesman for the Brown & Williamson tobacco company. ''We have our own policy. We do not market or advertise our products to anyone under the age of 21. We have many controls in place to ensure the intended audience is adult.''

However, Kottak said, his company firmly believes smoking policies should be decided by businesses or bar owners, and smokers of a legal age have a right to smoke.

''I don't think a complete smoking ban is realistic for all situations,'' he said. ''I think they have a freedom to choose where to smoke.'' But, he added, college smokers in dorms where smoking is banned must challenge such bans with university officials.

Bridgewater State, like many colleges in the state, such as Boston College and Northeastern University, decided to prohibit smoking in all public areas, with the exception of private rooms in residence halls and special designated areas.

The bill to ban smoking in dorms, which failed in 1999, was filed by state Representative Frank Hynes (D-Marshfield). At the time, Hynes said, the bill also included a ban on alcohol in dormitories and it met significant opposition.

''Some young adults felt as though the interference of state legislation into their college life was inappropriate,'' he said. After all, students of legal age have a right to consume products in what is considered their ''home.''

This year, however, fueled in part by the data in the Harvard studies, the bill will focus solely on smoking in college dorms.

Some colleges are taking up the antismoking cause on their own. Last week, with the assistance of the Granby-South Hadley Tobacco Control Program, students at Mount Holyoke voted by a 2-to-1 ratio for a full smoking ban in the residence halls. Officials say the college is now making programs more accessible for those who want to quit.

''If that kind of behavior would be modeled by the public institutions, that would be great,'' Hynes said.