The bright lights of the convenience store are finally in sight as you conspicuously begin to dig through your pockets for any spare change. Ahh, four more quarters - delight. You've now got a total of $4.20, a near empty lighter and a load of pocket lint. What to buy?

Your mom would tell you to do your laundry with it, since wearing the same pants for two weeks is not cool. Your dad would suggest putting it in the bank, because in a few years it may amount to $7.

Or, you could just kill yourself slowly by spending it all on a pack of cigarettes.

If you can manage to smoke only a few cigarettes per day, you probably won't go broke in the long run. But if you're a "butt-head," a week full of cigarette smoking can easily amount to at least $25-30 per week, depending on which brand you smoke.

That's why more and more people, especially cashless college students, often opt to roll their own cigarettes.

It's not as hard, nor is it as gross tasting, as it sounds. And it's a helluva lot cheaper, too. A 3/4 oz. bag cigarette tobacco with 36 gummed rolling papers costs $1.49 at Meijer. That's roughly $.0414 per cigarette, compared to about $.22 per pre-rolled cigarette. Kinesiology freshman and cigarette smoker Robby Overfield said he switches back and forth between pre-rolled and hand-rolled cigarettes throughout the week. "I roll my own cigs because it tastes better, it's cheaper and it's way cooler," Overfield said.

Doug Campbell, owner of Campbell's Smoke Shop at 207 MAC Ave., said the store has been in business for 46 years and has been selling cigarette tobacco for most of that time.

Rich cigar smells fill the air inside the shop where pouches of fresh tobacco sit inside a tall cabinet waiting to be purchased.

Campbell sells imported tobacco with names such as Norwegian Shag and Danish Export. For $2.75, smokers can buy an ounce of the tobacco, the equivalent of about 30 cigarettes.

"There's no additives, no preservatives, it's just tobacco," Campbell said. "It's all natural. Buying this kind of tobacco is better than pre-rolled cigarettes because at least you know what you're smoking - and it tastes better."

People of all ages come into the store everyday to buy tobacco for rolling, but Campbell said the store has seen an increase in the purchase of such products since the state's cigarette tax was raised $.50 in August.

"It's been far more popular recently because of the increase in the cigarette tax," he said. "Not many people are willing to pay that kind of money anymore."

So what's the difference between the tobacco at a place such as Campbell's or the tobacco in a pre-rolled cigarette like a Marlboro?

Well, most people who roll their own cigarettes don't use a filter, which catch the tar and other ingredients from the tobacco when smoking. That makes them more dangerous to your health, said Jasmine Greenamyer, a health educator at Olin Health Center.

"It's the combination of nicotine that goes straight to your lungs," Greenamyer said. "It's filtering how it gets into your system and how long it takes to hit the mucus membranes in your lungs. It's more detrimental to your health, but it gives you a faster buzz."

The second, and probably most attractive difference, is the lack of preservatives. As Campbell said, when you buy a bag of cigarette tobacco, unless otherwise marked, what you see is what you get.

If you're still intimidated by rolling your own smokes, you can pick up a cigarette rolling machine to help you out for under $10 at local smoke shops.