But mostly, I don't understand why people do it. Everyone knows that you die from smoking, and yet smart college kids still choose to. Many non-smokers at UVA have friends who smoke, which often creates a difficult situation. I hate cigarette smoke. Smoking at UVA is clearly a complicated social issue.
Students smoke for all different reasons, the few described here are merely the tip of the iceberg.
The fact of the matter is that the decision to pick up a cigarette, light it and breath its fumes has to do with who you are as an individual and how you behave in social situations. Ad campaigns might turn colorless, cigarette machines can be destroyed and warning labels can be pasted anywhere there is white space, but until the smoking culture dies out, those little white cancer sticks are likely to remain a part of University life.