A recently concluded study on Delhi University’s North Campus has debunked the notion that colleges are ‘breeding grounds’ for smokers. A report by World Lung Foundation (WLF), which carried out a survey in collaboration with DU, states that as many as 47.6 per cent of smokers get into the habit in school, mostly for “fun and pleasure”; the rest pick up the habit in college.

“In colleges, there is an absence of the regimented environment of schools, which encourages more students to start smoking. However, by banning the use of tobacco and spreading awareness, we are able to check this growth,” Gurmeet Singh, proctor of the university, said. WLF has been instrumental in making North Campus a no-smoking zone and the report states that over the last five years, smoking in the university has gone down by at least five per cent among men and 0.5 per cent among women.

A survey conducted by the Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute on Delhi University students in 2003 had found that 23.5 per cent of men and 3.9 per cent of women students smoked. The WLF report puts these figures at 18.4 per cent for men and 3.3 per cent for women. Dr G R Khatri, president of WLF, Asia, said that despite the existence of a law, 34.6 per cent of smokers buy tobacco products from the campus and 41.8 per cent smoke in the campus itself.

The survey also found almost 1,100 episodes of smoking happened at 14 ‘dens’ on campus and more than 78 per cent of clients bought tobacco from four major outlets adjoining campus and major colleges.