I think this research project will assist us in finding out. Ultimately, the findings from the project have national implications, and will benefit college campuses across the nation. OCC has carried out its own smoking cessation pilot program for the past year. Virtually all of the students we've talked to in our pilot program have told us that they want to quit smoking. In fact, a 1997 Columbia University study shows that 78 percent of college smokers have made previous quit-smoking attempts.
Smoking is as addictive as heroin and cocaine.
Once you start, it's extremely hard to quit. The American Cancer Society has reported that the average smoker needs five to seven quit attempts in order to discontinue tobacco use. Dickson says many OCC students took up smoking while in high school. College is a good time for them to try to quit. They come to the colle ge campus and realize that smoking is pretty dumb, but they're addicted to nicotine.