Eben Clattenburg '09 is the tobacco cessation intern for the College's Health Resources department and is a member of the Tobacco Task Force. He is passionate about tobacco cessation because he doesn't think that smokers "have the right to put other people's lives at risk." Eben elaborates on Dartmouth's cigarette culture or, rather, lack thereof.
What does your internship entail?
Part of my job as a Drug and Alcohol Peer Advisor is also being the tobacco cessation intern. I go to all of the meeting for the Tobacco Task Force, which is a group of Dick's House doctors, nurses, administrators and one other DAPA intern. Our goal is to make Dartmouth's campus tobacco-free by July 4, 2009.
Is the effort going well?
I think so, but it takes a while to get things done because there are so many stupid roadblocks at the College. Basically, we're trying to convince the offices in charge of employee health benefits to change their policy so that it covers tobacco cessation plans like Nicotine Replacement Therapy. Not only will it help their employees' health, but if the College improves its health-care policy, it'll end up saving money in as little as five years.
Do you have reason to believe that you can pull this off?
Yes, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center's employees went tobacco-free last July. Unfortunately, there are 700 other employees there who are under the College's health-care plan rather than DHMC's, so they weren't given the health-care benefits necessary to quit successfully. We realized that was enormously unfair, so we worked to change the policy.
It sounds like you're very focused on helping employees. Is there a separate student-centered initiative?
There will be a focus on the students. Dartmouth is really lucky that it has a very low smoking rate for students, something like 13 or 14 percent. The employees have a higher smoking rate. About 24 percent of adults in the United States smoke, so that's what we estimate the employee percentage is. There are approximately 5,000 employees at the College, and we can't have the campus go tobacco free without them. Basically, we're jumping over the big hurdle first.
Do you think that Dartmouth students stigmatize cigarette smoking?
I do think Dartmouth has a fairly healthy culture that looks down on smoking. Somewhere along the line, smoking went from being a cool thing to an un-cool thing. The longer we're here, the more we're going to see that trend continue, because more and more people are going to know what a horrendous activity it is.
Is it hypocritical that Dartmouth students tend to think badly about smoking cigarettes but often embrace the use of alcohol?
To me, it doesn't seem hypocritical. Drinking and smoking can't really be compared because cigarettes give off smoke. Second-hand smoke increases your chance of getting heart disease and lung cancer by 25 to 30 percent. If you're around someone who is binge drinking, yes, that can put you at risk in different ways, but it's not increasing your likelihood of getting cancer. Of course, that's not the reason that smoking is looked down upon at Dartmouth and drinking isn't. People generally think that smoking is a really disgusting practice, and people don't think that binge drinking is that gross. Most people in the U.S. grow up thinking that. Do I think that mindset is unique to just Dartmouth? No.
How does Dartmouth students' use of chewing tobacco compare to cigarette use?
We don't have any data on chewing tobacco, but I definitely think it's going to become a bigger issue. You can still become addicted to nicotine from using it, and it has around 28 carcinogens in it, so you're still putting yourself at enormous risk of getting cancer. I guess the reason some people aren't quite as against it is that there's no second-hand smoke. But honestly, it's so nasty! I mean, you're spitting all of the time.
What goes through your head when you see someone using tobacco?
Honestly, I just feel bad. I read a national study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that said that 70 percent of people who smoke cigarettes say that they want to quit smoking and 45 percent of smokers have tried to quit within the last year. So when I see someone smoking, I wish there was a way to approach them without making them feel defensive, to tell them about the resources at Dartmouth. To say, "You know, if you have Dartmouth's health plan and you talk to a Dick's House doctor, you get zero co-pay for NRT." I wish it was easier to be helpful. A lot of people don't realize how enormously hard it is to quit smoking.
Do you think negative reactions to smoking, such as coughing loudly or staring at the smoker, are helpful or just antagonizing?
Well I think that's really confrontational, so it's not really my style. But I do think it's good that people know that if you're smoking, you're putting other people at risk, and it's a really unpleasant thing to be around. So I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing for people to be made aware of that. Social pressure is enormous. A lot of people cite social pressure as a reason for why they stop smoking.
Is the social pressure at Dartmouth substantial enough to motivate people to quit?
Yeah, I think it is. I personally know an international student who came to the states, came to Dartmouth and went, "Oh. Nobody smokes here. I need help." She went to Dick's House and got some.