Quentin Makowski smokes a carton of cigarettes each week.
The Lapeer native calls himself "an avid smoker" and even wrote a paper in high school defending the habit.
And he's only 19 years old.
"It basically forces you to take a break out of your day to relax," Makowski said as he took a drag from a Camel Turkish Gold outside Bailey Hall on Tuesday.
Makowski, a fifth-generation smoker who started at age 16, has puffed everything from non-filtered to flavored cigarettes. He said the influence of family and friends - not marketing - attracted him to light up at an early age.
But government leaders in Michigan say the tobacco industry is using tactics such as flavored cigarettes to lure non-smokers and young people to take up the habit.
Last week, Michigan Department of Community Health Director Janet Olszewski and Surgeon General Kimberlydawn Wisdom sent a letter to R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. - producer of cigarettes including Camel and Winston - urging it to stop the production of flavored cigarettes.
"R.J. Reynolds, we felt, was being the most aggressive in terms of its advertising campaign," said TJ Bucholz, spokesman for the state Department of Community Health.
Bucholz said the marketing strategies are contrary to what the company says it is trying to do, which is to decrease exposure to young people.
"This was a call to action on behalf of state government that this practice of marketing these cigarettes to these groups is unacceptable," Bucholz said.
Company spokesman Seth Moskowitz declined to comment and said R.J. Reynolds does not do interviews with student publications to avoid the image it is marketing to that demographic.
The health department had not received a response from R.J. Reynolds as of Monday.
Tasty tobacco
Not all tobacco companies agree with the production of flavored cigarettes, such as Philip Morris USA, producer of brands including Marlboro and Virginia Slims.
The company was one of several to agree in a 1998 multi-state court settlement to follow restrictions on marketing its product to youth.
Philip Morris USA has paid more than $500 million to youth smoking-prevention programs since the settlement.
"We don't manufacture flavored cigarettes at all," said company spokeswoman Dana Bolden. "In fact, we supported a (Food and Drug Administration) regulation that would have prohibited flavored cigarettes from being marketed."
But anti-smoking organizations, such as Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in Washington, believe some companies are breaking their promise with "candy-flavored" smokes.
"It's generally universally agreed that this is just blatant marketing to kids," said Joel Spivak, spokesman for the campaign.
Spivak said since the settlement doesn't officially regulate promotion, the group is working at the federal level to pass FDA regulations of tobacco advertising. In 2004, Congress rejected a bill that would give the FDA this control, Spivak said.
"The marketing is very important," he said. "Otherwise, the tobacco industry wouldn't spend $12.5 billion per year."
Attracting youth
The boxes are flashy, and the cigarettes come in flavors ranging from fruity to toffee, but some student smokers said they don't think that attracts children any more than regular cigarettes.
"It's more of a matter of taste," said mechanical engineering junior Jon Genord, a clerk at 7-Eleven, 918 E. Grand River Ave. "I don't go buy a pack because I think, 'Wow these are cool.'"
Genord said he isn't a smoker but will occasionally smoke a flavored brand.
Smoking rates have declined among high school students in recent years from a historic high of about 36 percent in 1997 to 21.9 percent today, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
The group attributes the decline to higher tobacco taxes, smoke-free laws in seven states and prevention programs.
But Danny McGoldrick, research director for the campaign, said that people who become smokers in high school are more frequent users in their college years.
McGoldrick said 18- to 24-year-olds smoke at a higher rate than any other age group in the country. Tobacco companies target bars and other college-town venues to market their products, he said.
Marlboro promoters distributed cigarette lighters at The Peanut Barrel Restaurant, 521 E. Grand River Ave., last week.
In a 2004 online survey for the American College Health Association, about 57 percent of MSU students indicated never smoking cigarettes.
Out of the 1,335 students surveyed, 4.7 percent said they had smoked during each of the past 30 days, which is not considered a high amount, said Becky Allen, a health educator for Olin Health Center.
Laura Venzke, assistant manager at Speedway gas station, 1301 E. Grand River Ave., said it's usually 18- to 25-year-olds that come in and request the flavored cigarettes, especially for special occasions.
She said the downside for a regular smoker is the cost. Flavored Camels cost about $2 more than regular Camels.
But apparel and textile design freshman Jodi Nazione said the cost isn't an issue because the candy-style sticks don't have that much appeal to the younger crowd anyway.
The 18-year-old smokes about a half a pack a day and said she usually buys what is cheap and available.
"If I want a coffee-flavored cigarette, I'll just go have a cup of coffee," she said.
Claire Cummings can be reached at cummin94@msu.edu.
