Smoking Habits of the Final Grade Students at Ataturk University in Erzurum, Turkey/ Turkiye'deki Erzurum Ataturk Universitesi son Sinif Ogrencilerinin Sigara Kullanma Aliskanliklari (Smoking AND HEALTH/TUTUN VE SAGLIK‪)‬

INTRODUCTION Smoking dependence is the most important and frequently encountered toxicomania type. A cigarette is easier to obtain than alcohol, cocaine, and other drugs. It is widely and legally available for sale in Turkey from the age of 18 years [1]. Cigarette use can reduce the me an lifetime, increase the rate of permanent disability and discontinuity at work. In addition, annual medical care costs for smokers are greater than for non smokers [2]. Cigarette use is one of the most important preventable health problems worldwide [3,4]. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that nearly five million people died from tobacco-related diseases annually. The WHO concluded that tobacco use is a major and widely prevalent risk to health [5]. While currently each year, five million people die from cigarette smoking, this number is expected to reach ten million by 2030. According to the data provided by the Ministry of Health, 12 people die prematurely in an hour, 300 a day, and nearly one hundred thousand each year in Turkey from cigarette smoking (www.sigarasiz.com) [6]. In a study representative of the whole country carried out in 1988, it was reported that in Turkish society, 68.2% of men above 15 years, 24.3% of women, and 43.6% of the whole population are active smokers [7]. The assumption that all over the world, including Turkey, about 45% of the population over 15 years has a smoking habit on a very serious scale reveals how important the problem is for the young [8]. It is also known that all over the world, among adult men smoking habit is very common, it was seen that, in recent years this habit has become increasingly common among working women especially among the pre-adult group, and this is representative of the whole country [2,6,9,10].