Ten percent of current college students will die of smoking-related illnesses. With statistics like these, it's a wonder why students continue to light up. According to the Health & Human Development Programs, college students who reported smoking daily rose by 40 percent from 1991 to 1999, and that statistic is still increasing. The college population is easy to target for tobacco marketing. Most of the time, students live in contained environments, such as campuses, so they are easily reached with advertising. Senior Mat Palardy is a business major at the University of Florida who has been smoking cigarettes for about two years. "I was young," he said. "Obviously I didn't want to feel left out." Palardy is one of many students who began smoking in college. In fact, almost 40 percent of college students either begin smoking or become regular smokers after starting college. Although college is a critical time to address smoking, by that point in time, some students are still unaware of the dangers. Michael Seyfried, a doctor at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, said the dangers of smoking are a huge issue. He believes that smoking has a direct impact on every organ, even if you're not actually smoking. For those ready to quit smoking, there are organizations at the University of Florida to help. Healthy Gators is a Student Government-funded organization dedicated to promoting physical and mental health to students at the University of Florida. "I feel like healthy living is important," said Tom Dudash, President of Healthy Gators. The organization has general meetings, seminars and club-sponsored activities in mental and physical recreation. This includes speakers who frequently come in to discuss the dangers of smoking. According to Dudash, college serves as such a distraction to an individual anyway, that it is important to take care of oneself.
"It's more than each individual living a healthy lifestyle," Dudash said. "We must be healthy as a whole."
Although smoking receives a lot of attention, the dangers of secondhand smoke are often neglected. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, secondhand smoke contains at least 250 chemicals that are known to be toxic. This includes more than 50 that can cause cancer.
Breathing in the secondhand smoke can have immediate harmful effects on the cardiovascular system that can increase the risk of heart attack. This can especially affect those who already have heart disease.
"Smoking has become like a second nature to me," Palardy said. "Sometimes I forget about the people around me."
Secondhand smoke can cause Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, acute respiratory infections, ear problems, as well as severe asthma attacks in children.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Toxicology Program and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have all designated secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen, which is a cancer-causing agent.
"There is a significant impact no matter what," said Seyfried. "There's not a system in the body that is not affected by tobacco."
However, there is more than just the immediate life-threatening risk. There are also the non-lethal effects such as the allergies and the cultural side of polluting clean air.
"Does your right to smoke supersede my right to clean air?" Seyfried said. The total number of smokers has decreased in the past 10 years, but the percentage of smokers who are in high school and college is higher than ever before. Seyfried believes college students still smoke today for the same reasons they always did. Perhaps most believe that it's cool and dangerous. It has a grown-up appeal and will make those who are insecure think that they fit in better. And then they get addicted. Distinct federal guidelines penalize companies for burning oil and gas and polluting clean air. These rules do not apply to smokers. Several national organizations are focused on bringing attention to the problem of college students smoking. Healthy Gators is just one of them. "If you can do something about a situation, don't just sit there," Seyfried said. "Do it." | 
