The concept of smoking differs between Chinese and American cultures, according to some Ohio State international students. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | For The Lantern

Outside Smith Laboratory, Milo Dong lit a cigarette and exhaled, surrounding himself in a cloud of smoke, right in front of a no-smoking sign at Ohio State.

Ohio State’s tobacco-free campus policy has been in place since 2014, but students smoking behind some buildings on campus is still a common sight. Dong, an international student from China, said cultural differences in the perception of smoking may be part of some students’ decision to continue smoking on campus. 

“[If you] pass a cigarette to a boss, this means you respect him,” Dong, a third-year in computer information sciences, said. “If you pass a cigarette to a friend, it is like sharing intimacy.”

On Jan. 1, 2014, Ohio State became a tobacco-free campus with a policy that prohibited “all faculty, staff, students, vendors, volunteers, and visitors from using tobacco products on campus, both indoors and outside,” according to the university’s tobacco-free policy executive summary. 

According to the summary, college campuses are a “critical target for tobacco use prevention and cessation efforts” because “tobacco addiction begins almost exclusively among youth and young adults.”

Dong said that for him, smoking is more of a social activity than a habit.

Sen Yan, a third-year in economics from Liuliang, China, started smoking when he was 17 years old. Yan said he enjoyed how it allowed him and his friends to have long conversations about the stress of school, getting over past relationships and work. 

“If most of your friends are smoking and you are not, then you will look kind of weird,” Yan said.

Bernadette Melnyk, the university’s chief wellness officer and dean of the College of Nursing, said in an email that stress and peer pressure may lead someone to experiment with tobacco products, regardless of the potential effects.

“A social smoker is still a smoker, and the risks and dangers associated with smoking are still present,” Melnyk said.

In China, the legal age to smoke tobacco products is 18, but underage smokers rarely get caught, Yan said. 

“There are internet bars where young people get a cigarette from anyone and can go play video games where they allow smoking,” Yan said. “This leads more and more people to smoke underage.”

Yan said that since coming to Ohio State, he has been caught smoking on campus twice by a resident assistant and received a warning once from his hall director, who told him to smoke off campus.

Despite the warning, Yan said he continues to smoke on campus because he sees people smoke in locations such as near Smith Lab and the Journalism Building.  

“Once the people find this area, then more and more people come and realize [the school doesn’t] say anything about it,” Yan said. 

Although there are some places for students to smoke without receiving criticism, Yan said he is aware of the problems smoking on campus can cause.  

“Sometimes I will be ashamed of [cigarette butts] on the ground,” Yan said.

Dong has tried moving off campus to smoke, either crossing High Street or Lane Avenue. 

“I worry that people will get sick of the smell and the pollution and stuff, but I am also scared of getting caught,” Dong said. “It makes me feel uncomfortable because people see me like I’m the bad guy.”

Dong said he would like to see an authorized space for students to smoke so they do not feel separated from campus but can still respect the tobacco restrictions.

He said this could also help combat stereotypes surrounding Asian students who smoke.

“There’s a lot of Chinese kids smoking on campus, which is pretty bad because it really changes how Americans see us,” Dong said.

Melnyk said regardless of where someone is from, smoking is dangerous for a student’s health.

“No matter the norms at home — and that can be international or domestic students — we want to support their wellness on campus,” Melnyk said.