They congregate outside of buildings. They can be seen walking throughout campus. Often times found in groups, but sometimes there is the singular one. They look normal, but once you are near them you smell it. Smoke.
Smokers are constantly looked down upon, now that everyone knows the horrible side effects of cigarettes, but they still hold a force to be reckoned with. The “cool” aspect of holding a cigarette has now become the “uncool” and, more notably, the expensive habit of self-harm.
The Manhattan College smoking community does not seem to be stopping anytime soon, though. Smokers can still be seen nightly on the Jasper Hall stoop and outside other residence halls, and walking through Riverdale. Walking to and from classes, nonsmokers will get a whiff of second hand smoke and often times break out in a coughing fit.
With the increasing price of smoking in New York City, just one pack can put a student back eleven dollars. When asked if that changes habits, most students talked about the idea of “rationing cigarettes throughout the week,” trying to stretch the twenty cigarettes throughout weekdays, sometimes having to splurge for a second pack on the weekends. In a way, that means this increased price is cutting down on smoking, but then there are the ways to get around high costs.
Many students look to friends for cheaper cigarettes, in addition to the loathed upon act of bumming cigarettes. Students here on campus bring back cheap packs from home and sell them at eight dollars a pack; expensive still, but cheaper than anything else they would receive. Christina Conceicao, sophomore who attended SUNY Fredonia, promised to bring friends back “four or three dollars packs” from her upstate campus.
The increased cost may not be fair, but it goes with the higher cost of living in a city, and dealing with a harmful addiction. Still, new alternatives are always being created for these smokers. There have been patches and gum, but not all smokers see the need to quit, nor do they have a desire to. Smokers view themselves as a community; it’s a “social activity” and fosters a sort of family, which meets together and shares an experience.
There may be a new alternative for those smokers who wish to keep going, and it boasts that it is a much cheaper way. This new creation, known as the e-cigarette, is not like a traditional cigarette. It’s battery operated and you can even purchase “skinz” for it, making a normal white cigarette look lame next to a camouflage covered e-cigarette.
The idea of e-cigarettes meets high opposition, though. It doesn’t produce smoke, but only releases a water vapor, allowing the smoker to perform the act anywhere. This thought alone is seen to smokers as a weird concept. In addition to not producing real smoke, it comes with a rechargeable battery and refillable cartridges.
“I don’t like the idea of having to plug in my cigarette and not being able to just pull out a lighter when I want to smoke,” remarked one college smoker, sophomore Katie Pietropaolo.
The websites for electronic cigarettes (http://www.ecigaretteschoice.com/) boast of how much cheaper, overall, it would be to invest in one. A starter kit ranges from about sixty bucks to one hundred forty, depending on what level of cigarette you want and how many cartridges you need. A cartridge holds “water, propylene glycol, nicotine, flavoring and a scent that emulates tobacco and other flavorings,” and supposedly equals about seven to ten actual cigarettes, though that is depending on how much the smoker actually inhales.
A five pack of refill cartridges costs around ten dollars. A pack of twenty cigarettes, in New York City, costs around eleven. If the e-cigarette works like it says it does, that means you would be getting almost double for almost the same price. So why has everyone not jumped on this trend?
While the reviews for the e-cigarette offer up a lot of praise, the college smoking community here at Manhattan College is not convinced. It is something about the original act of smoking that holds favor with these students. Bringing in an object that has to be charged and refilled is not as aesthetically pleasing as that of paper burning. Maybe it is just that these kids like fire and smoke, but the e-cigarette does not seem like it will be catching on soon.
Much like with any new idea, it is not always so easy to catch on. Even with the increased prices, economists argue that not everyone will change habits. It would be like comparing the high gas prices that never made anyone stop driving, to this increased price that will not cause an abrupt stop to smoking.
However, the students will continue to stand outside and laugh together and smoke together, no matter how much the cost. I am sure once it hits twenty bucks a pack then we will see the numbers dwindle.
So, anyone want to take a smoke break? Just be sure to bring your own cigarettes, though, not too many people want to share now.
No comments:
Post a Comment