Giebfried said the role of peer pressure and media images in teenagers who begin to smoke is particularly alarming, and praised the commitment by the Boston Globe not to run smoking ads this month. He said groups are trying to pressure the Boston Herald to adopt the same policy.

Giebfried cheered the numbers from the Department of Public Health but pointed out the survey showed that minors still had easy access to cigarettes. He said this is a problem for law enforcement but also for parents and older siblings--like college students--who smoke. Smokers "should not leave their cigarettes around," Giebfried said, "because the younger individual often picks up those cigarettes and either uses them or passes them around at school." He compared the ethical responsibility to be vigilant on cigarettes at home to the laws that regulate that parents lock up their firearms. That way, even if you or your parents don't stop smoking, you can at least stop your younger siblings from starting.

This day, however, is about the smokers themselves. "The hardest thing for young smokers is the fact that they are not experiencing the long-term effects immediately," Giebfried said. An easy way to see how addicted you are to cigarettes, he said, was to think about how long you typically go after waking up before needing a cigarette. If the time is under a half hour, he said, that is a sign of serious addiction.

And this addiction should be taken seriously. Information provided by Jim Michie, the spokeperson for SAMHSA, suggested that the Great American Smokeout should help college students focus on their tobacco addiction: "Just as they think about college as a means to achieve their long-term career goals, students should look at stopping smoking as a way to live long enough to enjoy what their hard work and sacrifice have earned them."

As someone who grew up in a house with a sign that said "Thank you for not smoking. We'd rather die of natural causes" on the front door, I am probably not the best person to advocate quitting to smokers; I don't know their experience.

What I do hope to offer is empathy. Today, make sure to smile extra big to the person in your life who smokes. Sit with them at lunch, walk to class together or plan to paint the town (what there is of one) in New Haven. Show you care. These are things we should be doing every day, of course, but perhaps today they can make an extra difference and show smokers what a day without nicotine can be like.

Adam I. Arenson '00-'01 is a history and literature concentrator in Lowell House. His column appears on alternate Thursdays.