How times have changed on the smoking scene

I was not immediately aware of the coincidence when the Inter Lake ran a front page feature last Monday about the difficulties of one longtime Flathead Valley smoker on the same day the story ran that talk-show host Johnny Carson died.

I had to read a few paragraphs into the story to find out that Johnny Carson even smoked. Lighting up on television must have been frowned upon longer ago than I would have thought, considering that in the 1980s, smoking was a sanctioned activity in my public high school.

While high school students in Montana today are busted just for having cigarettes in their car, my school in Colorado had an area set aside for smokers called "the pit."

It wasn't located in some out-of-the-way place. Every student passed the smokers' den every day.

Though they were given a visible haven, the smokers were not treated to surroundings with any aesthetic appeal. The "pit" was exactly that, a sunken concrete area stuck along one wall of the "A" building, enclosed by a chain-link fence. It had a certain pentitentiary-like air to it, as if the rest of the student body either needed to be kept out or the smokers kept in.

An informal poll of co-workers found similar scenarios from high school days, though some who had never heard of such a concept were shocked to find out that schools actually provided special smoking areas.

One Inter Lake writer said his Virginia high school's smoking area was a completely welcoming place, as he spent many years mingling with his smoking friends in the "courtyard."

At a private Colorado high school one Inter Lake editor attended during the 1970s, the situation was more restrictive. Only seniors could be in the smoking room, conveniently located right next to the cafeteria. The underclassmen were forced to retreat to the classic sanctuaries - the bathrooms or the parking lot.

The way some schools used to enable their students in pursuit of this not-so-healthy habit was, even then, surprising. We certainly weren't ignorant of the health consequences of smoking in the 1970s and '80s.

I remember coming home in tears after elementary school the day we were shown the classic "this-will-undoubtedly-happen-to-you" films on the dangers of smoking, shot in the creepy cinematic style of the 1970s.

My father started smoking when he was 18 years old, keeping his promise to my grandmother that he would wait until after high school to take up the habit. So I was certain that it was only a matter of time before his smoking would force him to have a hole cut in his throat and he would be able to talk only with the aid of some gadget that looked like an electric razor.

At least the cautionary films at that time didn't dwell on the secondhand-smoke aspect. I could have been a very frightened young person - I don't know how much smoke I must have inhaled growing up.

My father quit smoking a few years into his 50s, but he went through more than two packs a day before that. One of my strongest memories of trips to visit grandparents in Arizona is the smell of cigarettes. My dad did crack his window open when he smoked in the car … but only a little. We would also sit around after meals at a small cafe we stopped at on those drives, captive to dad's need to have his after-dinner cigarette.

His lifestyle has changed dramatically since he quit smoking. He hikes twice a week, he regularly rides both his mountain bike and his road bike, he lifts weights and for the most part watches what he eats.

Another story in the paper this week mentioned how Johnny Carson told Mike Wallace during a 1979 "60 Minutes" episode that he "regretted" what the smoking did to his life and his health.

Though today's high school students who smoke probably also have regrets - like not growing up in a time when smoking was welcome on campus - maybe they'll someday thank the schools for not making it quite so easy.

Reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4431 or by e-mail at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com

Radio rankings

Average Share Ages 25-54

2004

KDBR 21.6

KBBZ 12.2

KZMN 12.1

KJJR 8.9

KOFI 6.1

KKMT 5.8

KALS 4.9

KQRK 2.8

KGEZ 1.6

2003

KZMN 27.3

KOFI 12.9

KDBR 11.2

KJJR 8.7

KKMT 7.5

KALS 7.5

KBBZ 5.9

KGEZ 3.7

KQRK 1.8

Source: Eastlan Resources