The Return of the Cig

Students are enticed by the aesthetics of smoking cigarettes. (Left) Photo provided by AP Photo/Gianni Foggia, (Right) Photo provided by AP Photo/Kin Cheung. Photo Illustration by Nina Glick.

Cigarettes are back. At least, that’s what my impression was while walking around Bellomy Street on Halloween night. Whether it’s a new aesthetic, students who have just come back from a semester abroad or merely a comeback of a nearly-eradicated trend, we all seem to know someone who smokes. 

This cyclical return of the cigarette follows on the heels of one of the most successful public health campaigns of all time. Smoking rates among adults dropped 73% between 1965 and 2022, according to the American Lung Association. 

The drop could be attributed to many factors, from scientific findings and Surgeon General reports, to warnings on tobacco products throughout the 20th century—and perhaps most etched into my own brain are anti-smoking ads depicting those with tubes in their throats, such as this ad from the CDC.

“The anti-smoking campaign of the 1980s-90s was a huge success for public health,” said public health professor Dr. Michele Parker. “The field totally demonized the tobacco companies and spread awareness about the health consequences of smoking. And it worked.”

Maybe these efforts didn't make the same impression on my peers, considering a 2021 study noted one in four college students still use tobacco products. 

Dr. Parker suggests a reason why: “College students today were not alive during this time, and if their parents didn’t warn them about the health consequences of smoking, they may not know. Parents often have generic conversations with their teens about drinking and drugs, without specifically mentioning smoking.

“Young people today don’t know that half a million people die annually in the U.S. from smoking-related causes and that smokers live, on average, 10 years less than non-smokers,” said Dr. Parker. 

More recently, young people were associated with vaping, or e-cigarette use. 18 to 24-year-olds have the highest prevalence of vaping as opposed to smoking, according to a CDC report from 2022. This number is actually on the rise, with up to 15.3% reporting e-cigarette use in 2022 compared to 9.3% in 2019. 

Vaping is certainly preferable to smoking from a public health perspective. While still addictive, e-cigarettes are known to have less chemicals than traditional cigarettes, making them a better option for smokers. 

But what was once something to help smokers quit might be creating new addictions entirely, and researchers are catching on. “E-cigarettes’ biggest threat to public health may be this: The increasing popularity of vaping may ‘re-normalize’ smoking, which has declined for years,” says the American Heart Association.

“It’s more sexy and European than being a vape god. You know, it feels super European to stop what you’re saying mid-sentence and just take a drag and then keep talking. It adds sophistication to the sentence,” said a class of ’27 Santa Clara University student who wished to remain anonymous. 

The practice of vaping did re-normalize tobacco and nicotine use, and now with vaping going out of style, we are seeing a frat row full of heavy smoke. 

While smoking might have diminished in the past decades, the cigarette aesthetic seemingly never went away. One Etsy search brings up a plethora of vintage, cigarette-branded merchandise, posters and more. It’s vintage. It’s European. It’s sexy. 

But an aesthetic that’s addictive isn’t a once-a-week hobby. It’s important to recognize that smoking is above all a coping mechanism, and some social realities might be exacerbating the issue.

“My guess is…partly why we are seeing rates of smoking increase among young people is that young people are facing the incredible stressors and sense of loneliness and isolation that is, ironically, often fostered/exacerbated by social media,” said Dr. Sonja Mackenzie of the Public Health Department at Santa Clara University in an email. 

It seems young people are turning to smoking to foster connection. While now this is mostly a part of going-out culture and the allure of a “drunk cig,” smoking is addictive, and the trend might be bleeding into the every day, even on the University’s campus. 

“Today I was walking to class and I saw someone just smoking a cigarette,” said Elisabeth Canjar ’26. “I was walking right behind her so the smoke was hitting me and that was annoying.”

I’m not trying to take away anyone’s fun. But the truth of the matter is, smoking is bad. It’s bad for the smoker, and it’s bad for everyone around them. 

Addiction is nothing to mess around with. Drunk cigs do count, and are a reflection of a population of young people looking for connection in an increasingly isolated world.