This document summarizes interviews that a student conducted with smokers at a university smoking area. When asked why they smoke, many smokers gave surprisingly similar answers. One smoker said he does it because he enjoys it, acknowledging the obvious reason for doing something. The student was curious about smokers' reasons for starting and continuing the habit despite being aware of health risks.

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Prof. DiSarro
English 103 * l" m*-3i a5
3 Nov. 2009
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Why Smoke?
Bad breattL smelly clothes, stained teeth, rmducate4 disgusting, unatFactive,
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yellow stained walls, loss of money; these are some of the things that pop into my mind t *!^ ^ '
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when I think about smoking cigarettes. I think to myselfyhflrfry would anyone want to 1
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smokel There is not one good personal effect that smoking has that I can think of. The
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only positive that comes to mind is the revenue that tobacco brings in and how it makes a ,- o - <.- I" - -
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living for the tobacco farmers. I would love to see smoking abolished but I know the y o- er -r'
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economic effects it would have on this counfy. I would then say next I would like to see *-
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people being educated about the harmfirl effects that tobacco has, but most smokers are r -*€
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aware of these effects and some have experienced it or witnessed it firsthand. So why do '-- '
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people still smoke then? This question lead me to the Lafollette smoking area so I could
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ask some smokers what their reason for smoking is" how they got starte4 if they are vo - 4 nn4
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awareoftheeffects, andwhytheycontinueto smoke. Someoftheanswersl gotwere lours<-t
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One of my close friends smokes and I sometimes accompany herl to the smoking e^ 3 *L -
area. Today rrfoen I tagged along I had a different purpose. I asked many of the smokers c'..e.-. -+-
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down there why they smoke. One of the guys I asked said he does it because he likes it, {- ' -
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which is obvious, why would you do something you don"t f*ff asked him if he knows 6+
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