Is your smoking behavior a problem or preference? Answer the following three questions truthfully, and you will begin to see the distinction between problem behaviors and lifestyle choices as it relates to tobacco use:

Do you discuss your smoking patterns?Are you well informed about the health hazards related to tobacco use? Are you willing to take responsibility for the health consequences of your smoking?

Your responses to these three questions will give you a good sense of whether smoking cigarettes is a problem or a preference. If you can honestly say that you are not defensive but are well informed, aware of the consequence of and responsible for the long-term effects of smoking, then perhaps it is a preference. If you answered no to one or more of these questions, you are probably in the pre-contemplation stage (not ready to change).

If you decided that smoking is a preference then you need to know that big tobacco companies "duped" you. Here is why: one of the main chemical constituents of tobacco is nicotine. This substance (which is a great insecticide!) is what gives tobacco its unique ability to produce both a calming and a stimulating effect. It is also what makes tobacco so addicting. Nicotine does all these things by affecting certain areas in the brain, specifically what's known as the pleasure center. This area in the brain is activated by a neurochemical called dopamine, and it's believed that nicotine acts in such a way that it both enhances the effects of and increases the amount of dopamine in the pleasure center.

Here is another reason why you were duped by big tobacco companies: It's illegal for tobacco companies to try to get people under age 18 to smoke. So who's the youngest legal group to sell to? You are!

People between ages 18 and 24 are the main targets of the tobacco industry. Why? You're changing your life.

People in transition are more likely to start smoking, or to smoke more if they already smoke. You're establishing patterns. Things you do now can become lifetime behaviors that get harder and harder to change. Add addiction to the picture and it makes good business sense for tobacco companies to get people smoking as soon as they can. The purpose of tobacco ads that feature attractive young people smoking and having lots of fun is to persuade you to start smoking or, if you already smoke, to continue smoking and even increase your habit. Tobacco marketers want you to believe that smoking will make your social life better, make you more popular, make young women look more glamorous or male students more manly.

Do take it personally! Take the challenge, join the Quit and Win smoking cessation program. Stop rationalizing, intellectualizing or placing blame on your cigarette habit. Join the challenge and set yourself free. If you believe you can quit, join the Quit and Win Great American Smoke Quit Tobacco for Day Contest. You will receive a quit kit and your name will be entered into a prize drawing on November 17th in the HUB. Stop by our table on the ground floor of the HUB!