Nearly half of college students used tobacco in one-year period

In 2000, nearly one-half of college students reported using tobacco products in the previous year. By including the use of cigars and smokeless tobacco, a study found a greater prevalence of tobacco use among college students than have previous reports that looked only at cigarette use. Although about 28 percent of both male and female students were current cigarette smokers, total tobacco use was much higher among males. The study showed that the difference is almost entirely due to males' much higher use of cigars. "We've left college students exposed to the most addictive drug on the planet by focusing our concern only on those under 18," said Henry Wechsler, director of the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study and lecturer on social psychology in the Department of Health and Social Behavior.