It was an ordinary weekday; I walked into the Shell station to get a Slurpee. However, when I got into line, I noticed how unusually crowded it was. As I watched the girl in front of me buy a pack of Camel Lights, I heard the cashier say, “Now if you take this pack right back there to that man, he’ll get you two more packs for free.” And then it hit me; everyone in that long line was a smoker. I’ve heard about the marketing tactics that tobacco companies use to target college students; I’ve just never witnessed it first-hand. So the only logical thing to do was to buy my very first pack of cigarettes. After I bought a pack, I started talking to Kurt, a sales representative for R.J. Reynolds, the second-largest tobacco producer in the world; it makes Camel, Winston and Salem cigarettes. He explained to me that he comes to that Shell station a lot because it’s “a really good store,” hinting that the college-aged population helps increase sales. I asked him a couple of questions before he told me to tell all of my friends to come, because he had plenty of free couponsto go around. This isn’t the first time that our campus has been influenced by tobacco. Last spring, when my friends were at a fraternity party, they were approached by Skoal representatives to fill out a form, so they could get a free tin of chewing tobacco. They filled it out, even though they don’t use tobacco products. Over the past few years, the United States has seen a decrease in adult and youth smoking, thanks to several states implementing tobacco quitlines, higher cigarette taxes and youth anti-tobacco movements. However, as adult and youth smoking has gone down, the tobacco companies have shifted their focus to another generation: college students. In fact, it’s not surprising that we’ve experienced tobacco marketing tactics on our campus, because tobacco companies are spending a record $461 million a year to market their products in Missouri. Actually, in the annual State Report just released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Missouri will use absolutely none of the allotted $245 million of tobacco tax revenue this year on youth anti-tobacco programs. Tobacco companies use whatever they can to reach the college population because it’s the first group they can legally target. But just because it’s not against the law doesn’t mean it’s right. I don’t want tobacco company reps meddling with the students on our campus. They have no business encouraging addiction by offering them free packs or having them sign up for free tobacco when they’re drunk.Carly Caminiti is a sophomore in the college of Arts and Sciences