Student smokers may have felt trampled upon when the Clean Air Project, a student group, began pushing for a smoke-free campus, but health educators want smokers to know they’re still there to help.
A study conducted by the Oregon Survey Research Laboratory revealed that 22 percent of University students smoke some form of tobacco regularly or casually. For those who want to quit, numerous campus resources are available to help.
University Health Center spokeswoman Paula Staight said she and some health-educated student peers sometimes counsel students who want help removing nicotine from their systems. Staight said she not only prescribes students the right medicine but also helps them find emotional antidotes.
“Before you even begin trying to quit, it’s good to come up with a quit plan,” Staight said. “That would include things like identifying why you want to quit, whether it’s for health reasons, because of cost, because buying cigarettes contributes to a negative impact on the environment or because your girlfriend doesn’t smoke.”
Identifying reasons behind a decision can help smokers see who or what will motivate them during the quitting process and discover the weaknesses at the root of their habit, she added.
“Part of it is identifying which situations will be most difficult for you after you quit,” Staight said. “For example, if you smoke cigarettes after you’ve been drinking, plan on how you can avoid that by, say, not drinking for a while or not stepping outside.”
Because most of the University’s smokers started using tobacco before they came to college, they often befriend smokers and find themselves “in a social situation that makes it even harder to quit,” said Jenna Welter, a student and peer health educator at the health center.
The American Journal of Preventive Medicine released a smoking cessation study in its February issue revealing that 43.5 percent of its smoker subjects had tried to quit in the last year and failed. But 64.2 percent of those tried to quit cold turkey without using a specific cessation treatment.
“Quitting sometimes takes several attempts, but that shouldn’t be a reason to give up altogether,” Staight said.
Students can get nicotine gum and patches from the health center pharmacy at a low cost help, Staight said, but much of the process is psychological.
“You have to think of yourself differently,” she said. “Think of yourself as a nonsmoker and not as a smoker trying to quit. Distract yourself from smoking when you want to. One person from a group called Quick Fix that came to campus would bounce a rubber ball instead of smoking.”
Both Staight and Welter said helping smokers quit is rewarding work.
“I don’t think I ever ran into anybody I helped who’s sad they quit,” Staight said.
Welter said she feels that good, encouraging friends, loved ones and peers may help smokers improve their overall health.
“Not only is smoking bad for your health in terms of getting cancer or diseases, but it’s also bad for your mental health,” Welter said. “I feel like I’ve made a difference to be a friend and tell them my advice.”
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