Mark Emde, University College freshman, pedals his bicycle along the South Oval as he puffs on a wooden pipe filled with cherry-flavored tobacco.

Emde smoked cigarettes for five years and chewed tobacco for three years before quitting both. He has smoked pipes for three years. With three pipes in his collection, Emde smokes about three times a week.

These days, cigarettes are not the only tobacco products popular on campus.

An increasing number of students are investing money in pipes, cigars, smokeless tobacco and hookahs for social, financial and health reasons to extinguish their tobacco cravings.

Picking the Pipe

Emde said one advantage of pipe-smoking is its low price.

He said he can buy an ounce of tobacco for two or three dollars, which can last him 10 to 20 bowls. Each bowl lasts 10 to 15 minutes.

According to www.pipes.org, a "decent" pipe can cost between $30 and $50.

Emde said he bought some of his pipes used for a few dollars.

According to the American Cancer Society Web site, pipe smoking is not a safe alternative to cigarettes.

"Pipe smokers are at increased risk of dying from cancers of the lung, throat, esophagus, larynx, pancreas, and colon and rectum," the site states. "They are also at increased risk of dying of heart disease, stroke, and chronic lung disease."

Emde said he knows pipe-smoking has its disadvantages.

"It's bad for your health," Emde said.

Desire to Dip

Some students tend to think of chewing tobacco as less damaging to their health.

Jong Ha Rhee, University College freshman, began dipping six months ago when he was trying to quit smoking.

He said he figures dipping is healthier.

Rhee said his family has a genetic predisposition to lung cancer, and he reasoned that while damage to the body from smoking is mostly internal, damage from dipping tends to be more external.

"I think it would be cheaper to fix it," Rhee said.

He said he used to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, spending about $30 a week. He now uses a can of chewing tobacco a day, spending about $35 a week.

Emde said he was particularly drawn to the taste and flavors of smokeless tobacco.

"There's just something about having tobacco in your mouth," he said.

Dipping is more convenient in that it does not require a break from work like smoking does, Emde said.

According to the American Cancer Society Web site, those who dip or chew smokeless tobacco typically receive the same amount of nicotine as regular smokers because of the direct absorption of the juice through the mouth.

Seeking Cigars

Since giving up dip, Emde said he smokes a cigar five or six times a week.

"In some people's eyes, cigars could seem less hurtful to yourself," Emde said. "You're not necessarily going to sit there and chain-smoke cigars. There's less of a stereotype."

Emde, who has smoked cigars for four years, said he considers cigars and pipes to be less harmful than cigarettes.

"It's more relaxing and you don't always need it the way you might crave a cigarette," he said.

Jared Ransom, film and video studies sophomore, slowly blows out smoke as he leans against the railing outside his apartment in OU Traditions Square.

Ransom says he never smokes cigarettes but has smoked cigars for two years.

"Standing around smoking a cigar with friends makes you feel suave," he said.

Ransom said he thinks cigars are probably healthier to a certain degree.

"I would say neither one is healthy, but probably cigars are healthier because you're not supposed to inhale," Ransom said.

According to the American Cancer Society Web site, "Most of the same cancer-causing substances found in cigarettes are found in cigars. Most cigars have as much nicotine as several cigarettes."

Hooked on Hookah

Isaac Ardoin, professional writing junior, said using a hookah -- a traditional Middle Eastern device meant for smoking flavored tobacco -- is also an alternative to smoking that is financially conservative.

"It is a lot cheaper and it lasts a lot longer," he said. "You can buy a carton of cigarettes for $30 or $40 today. You could get 2 big jars of tobacco and a whole box of charcoal for the same price. They'd probably last two or three times as long."

Five students sat around a table in the courtyard of the Honors House in a cloud of raspberry-scented smoke, passing around a long hose connected to a tall glass contraption filled with water.

"It's not like a flavored cigar or pipe tobacco," said Luke Garfield, University College freshman. "It's a lot more moist and a lot more smooth."

Moe Davini, owner of International Grocery and Hookah Bar at the corner of Lindsey Street and Jenkins Avenue, said when he opened the hookah bar in December, he would average about one customer per week.

He said he now receives about 100 customers per week, 40 of whom come regularly.

"Some of them come every day," he said.

Ardoin said he has bought hookahs from Davini's bar as well as from the Internet.

He said he had heard rumors that hookahs are safer than cigarettes because the vapor is filtered through water.

"[Hookah smoking] has recently become popular among young people, especially around college campuses," states the American Cancer Society Web Site. "The water does not filter out many of the toxins, and hookah smoke contains varying amounts of nicotine, carbon monoxide and other hazardous substances. Several types of cancer, as well as other health effects, have been linked to hookah smoking."

Davini said hookahs are less harmful than cigarettes because the tobacco lacks tar, has lighter smoke and has less than five percent nicotine.
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