While other students’ hobbies include playing video games or sports on campus, Jon Lung spends his time learning about cigars and immersing himself in the culture.
Since he was 18 years old, the marketing senior said he has smoked more than 440 different kinds of cigars. Every cigar carries a different taste and sensation, which Lung has recorded in a series of four journals that he plans to turn into a book.
As Lung sat among nearly 20 MSU students in the back room of Corona Smoke Shop, 3490 Okemos Road, in Okemos, for one of the first meetings of the MSU Cigar Connoisseur Club, he found comfort sharing his passion among fellow aficionados while networking with others in the cigar-smoking community.
“(It) just started with us being real passionate about smoking, and it expanded our interest with other people on campus who like cigars as well,” Lung said.
“It’s the interest of liking and smoking cigars, but it’s also fun and something to talk about. I’ve met a lot of my friends through smoking cigars at cigar shops.”
Andrew Baculy, president and one of the founders of the MSU Cigar Connoisseur Club, said the club officially started at the end of the last semester.
Baculy said the club meets every other week, and he hopes it eventually will be able to take trips to cigar factories and events featuring cigars for members to gain a greater appreciation for cigars.
Baculy said he started smoking when he was 17 years old, primarily because his father did. Baculy’s desire to learn more about cigars and meet other people with similar interests drove him to start the club.
For Baculy, he said he was unsure if MSU would approve of the club’s creation because of its mature subject matter.
But he is glad it did because he said it’s a great way to network with other cigar lovers.
“The cigar thing really seems to bring people together,” Baculy said.
“For the most part, it’s a way to meet more people.”
Theresa Bernardo, a public health expert and associate professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine, said it’s difficult for her to understand why people would participate in an activity, such as smoking cigars, that generally would decrease their life spans.
Although Bernardo said she could not comment on the club itself, she said smoking still is one of the leading causes of cancer in the world in addition to heart attacks, strokes and emphysema, which is a lung disease correlated to smoking.
“According to the World Health Organization, tobacco use is the second leading cause of death behind hypertension,” Bernardo said.
“Right now (tobacco) kills one in 10 adults. (We’re) in the midst of an epidemic of tobacco related disease and death.”
Emilio Arribas, a finance freshman and member of the club, said he really doesn’t think much about the dangers of smoking.
He said his family is from Europe where the culture is much more accepting of smoking, and the effects of it fall on the back burner to some degree.
“The people (in Europe) smoke cigars, cigarettes, whatever and use it in a social aspect,” Arribas said. “It’s not like everybody does it, but the people who do are very friendly — very social.”
With all concerns aside, Baculy said he plans to promote the club on campus to open it up to other students interested in cigars. He said the club is just as much about meeting other people as it is about smoking.
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As clouds of smoke slowly danced through the air of the dimly lit back room at the smoke shop, Lung said smoking different types of cigars and educating oneself allows the smoker to develop a well-refined palate and knowledge to pursue cigar smoking the correct way.
“It’s like wine — people just drink cheap wine because they want to get drunk,” Lung said.
“Other people drink wine because they want to develop a palate. … (Smoking cigars) develops your appreciation for it and you meet a lot of cool people and develop friendships with (them), so that’s why I kept smoking.”
