For one day this year, smokers will try to kick the habit and go 24 hours without touching any tobacco, which includes cigarettes, chewing tobacco, snuff or cigars.
Thursday is the Great American Smokeout, a day sponsored by the American Cancer Association, an opportunity to raise awareness about smoking and encourage smokers to try to stop for a day. If people stop for a day they are more likely to quit for good, according to the ACA.
Dana Kaye, a spokeswoman for the Oregon chapter of the American Lung Association, said the Smokeout has worked for people in the past. They are able to go one hour at a time and realize they can keep going, she said.
At a glance
Results from the 2007 National College Health Assessment (University of Oregon) “Do you smoke or use tobacco even a little bit?” 22 percent of students said yes “Have you ever been bothered by secondhand smoke on the U of O campus?” 69 percent of students said yes “The right to breathe clean air should take precedence over the right to smoke.” 86 percent of students agreed |
On the University campus, students are working to spread awareness about smoking. According to Paula Staight, director of health promotion at the University Health Center, student health leaders are celebrating the Smokeout for a week. The activities started on Friday, Nov. 14, with a cigarette butt pick-up.
About 20 people, mostly students, spread out around campus wearing latex gloves, picking up cigarette butts and placing them in Ziploc bags, Staight said. They counted them as they went along and collected thousands in 30 minutes. Last year they collected 18,072 butts in four, 30-minute sessions. According to Staight, the University spends $8,000 to $10,000 annually on cleaning up dropped cigarette butts.
The health center’s activities continue throughout the week. On Wednesday at the EMU concourse there will be a contest to guess how many cigarette butts were picked up. On Thursday at the Student Recreation Center there will be a demonstration on tobacco’s impact on health. And all week a person in a “ciggy” costume will parade the streets, educating passersby about the dangers of tobacco use.
Students on campus formed a coalition called the Clean Air Project about two years ago, which is working to make the campus cleaner and reduce secondhand smoke.
In 2004 a student group convinced the EMU Board to stop selling cigarettes on campus – evidence that students can make a difference on this issue, Staight said.
In spring 2008 the Smoke-Free Task Force was formed to ask faculty and students how they felt about a smoke-free campus. The results haven’t come in, but it’s a growing trend in the United States, Staight said. Oregon Health Sciences University is already smoke-free and the Portland Community College system will be in fall 2009.
Kaye said Oregon’s smoking rate fell to 19.8 percent this year, down a full percentage point from 20.8 percent last year. This is considered a large drop and it’s good to see, she said. Oregon still falls in step with the national average, which Kaye said is good, but of course could be better.
According to Kaye, college-age people have been the only demographic whose smoking rates have been increasing during the last 10 years. Tobacco companies have been targeting the 18 to 24 age group since it became illegal to target kids under 18. And habits like smoking while drinking aren’t helping young adults stay tobacco-free.
“That could be your ticket to being a life-long smoker,” Kaye said.
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