Chris Fiesel smoked two and a half packs of cigarettes a day for eight years - until his lungs hemorrhaged.

On his way to work, Fiesel, an Oklahoma City resident, realized he was having problems breathing. He could barely inhale. His lungs started to hemorrhage, and he began to cough up blood.

He was 26 years old.

Although he never went to the hospital, Fiesel said he is certain cigarettes caused his sickness.

"I never had another cigarette," he said. "And within a month, my lungs cleared up, and I was feeling fine."

Richard Havel, medical director at Goddard Health Center, said most people become cigarette addicts when they are teen-agers.

Although most serious health problems linked to smoking do not show up until a smoker is around 30 years old, OU students who smoke shouldn't be worry-free, Havel said.

Students who smoke regularly see more upper respiratory problems than non-smoking students the same age, Havel said.

"Even a freshman who smokes regularly will be more susceptible to sinus infections, chest infections, bronchitis and pneumonia," he said.

The National Drug and Alcohol Information Center reported that 69 percent of all addicted smokers became addicted before they were 18.

Fiesel said he started smoking in his teens.

"Like most kids do, I tried it because it looked cool," Fiesel said. "I was about 18, and both my parents smoked. It gave me a rush."

Fiesel, 43, now works for the American Lung Association. He is regional manager of the Great Plains chapter in Oklahoma City.

He often gives seminars to children and adults who want to quit smoking.

Fiesel said statistics should make it obvious to smokers that the rush is not worth the expense.


Why students smoke

Marilyn Holmes, health education coordinator at Goddard Health Center, said young people start smoking for many reasons.

"If a young person is around a group who smokes regularly they feel a lot of peer pressure to try it," she said. "Some people just do it because they're lonely, and it is something to do."

Shane Parks, management information systems junior, said he used to make fun of people who smoked in high school.

During finals week of his freshman year at OU, he was studying with his roommate who smoked. He decided to try a cigarette.

"I didn't even like it," he said. "After that, I tried one again every once in a while. Before I knew it, I was smoking a pack every two days."

Parks said he believes drinking has a lot to do with young people smoking.

"I think beer and cigarettes go hand in hand," he said. "One just escalates the other."

Parks said he is only mildly addicted to nicotine. This year, he said, he only smokes about five cigarettes a day. He said that number rose during finals because of stress.

He said he doesn't know when he'll quit, but swears he will when he gets married or has a child.

"I'm just not worried about myself right now," he said. "I know what the long-term effects of smoking are. I guess I'm at that age that I think I'm invincible."

James Silman, medical director at the Center for Health Promotion in Norman, said the biggest problem with young people is that they don't realize they're not invincible.

"If you want somebody to look at you like you're the biggest idiot in the world, you ought to tell a teen-ager he should stop smoking," he said.

Silman said there is a big difference in being educated about smoking and being intelligent about smoking. Stupidity can overcome education, not only in young people, but also in adults, he said.

Silman said when he asks smokers what the worst thing they think smoking can do to them is, they say lung cancer.

"Sure, if you get diagnosed with lung cancer, they might be nailing the lid on your box in six months," he said. "At least you have a chance to get your affairs in order. If they have a heart attack tomorrow morning, that's it."

Silman said besides putting their own health in jeopardy, smokers also put others around them in danger. Children who grow up in a household where there is at least one regular smoker are more likely to suffer from chest infections, asthma, allergies and eating disorders, he said.


Deadly consequences

Health officials estimate that smokers in their 30s and 40s are five times more likely to suffer a heart attack than non-smokers of the same age. Smokers are 10 times more likely to develop lung cancer in their lifetimes than non-smokers.

Smoking kills more people than AIDS, cocaine, heroin, alcohol, fire, auto accidents, homicide and suicide combined. Millions of people continue to smoke despite the deadly consequences.

The Tobacco Free Coalition of Oklahoma reported that it costs $1 billion in health-care costs to treat patients who are ailing from smoking-related health problems in Oklahoma.

About 15,000 people nationwide are hospitalized due to second-hand smoke.

The Arizona Lung Association reported there are 30 chemicals in tobacco smoke that are known to cause cancer.

Havel said rest and a lot of fluids aren't as effective in curing minor illnesses in smokers as in non-smokers.

Smokers are also more likely to need antibiotics.

Silman said he was working in an emergency room once when a young couple who smoked brought in a small child who was ill.

The couple was dependent on Medicaid, and they had a card that allowed them to buy certain medications.

But, the medication that the baby needed was not included in the medicines that the card covered.

"I asked them if they would think about not buying cigarettes for a couple of weeks so they could afford to pay for the medication," Silman said.

"They tore up the prescription, got their baby and left."