The American Cancer Society Web site states smoking cigarettes kills more Americans than alcohol, car accidents, suicide, AIDS, homicide and illegal drugs combined.

The dangers of smoking cigarettes have been apparent for a long time, but it still seems to be a popular craze – a craze that takes up time.

I conducted an experiment to see how much time is lost because of smoking cigarettes. For one week, Brian Keefe, freshman accounting major, and I smoked cigarettes and documented how long each cigarette lasted. The time started when we left whatever we were doing until the time we came back.

While documenting the times of our smoking habits, we learned more about the psychology of smokers. About everything we did required a cigarette afterward. Eating, finishing homework and even climbing a flight of stairs all earned cigarettes.

“After doing something that was just the least bit stressful, I felt like I needed a cigarette,” said Keefe.

Smoking became more visible when it was incorporated with a social activity. “Hanging out” in front of our residence halls was one of the most common places we found ourselves smoking. Actively engaging with other smokers made cigarette smoking a bit of fun. Even with the awful smell and taste, smoking with others became a tradition.

“Being outside of Grant South, you see plenty of smokers,” said Keefe. “I found myself smoking more than one cigarette in one sitting, because seeing a new smoker buddy come outside intensified my urge to have a cigarette with them.”

In a 10-hour span, a cigarette was smoked every hour.

After this one-week trial, Keefe and I quit smoking for one week. Luckily, that week happened to fall over Thanksgiving break. It was easier to not smoke this week because we went home. We both agreed that being at NIU, with all the freedom, friends and other smokers combined, would have made it intensely harder to resist the urge to smoke.

“During the one week of abstinence from smoking, I found it to be harder to smoke while being at home,” said Keefe. “Being able to just go outside of the dorms at school to smoke increased the amount I smoked.”

According to the American Lung Association, the most common situation in which young people first try a cigarette is in the company of a friend who already smokes.

In the end, Keefe and I lost 25 hours, spent over $50 and filled our lungs with 168 cigarettes in one week.

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