The Resurgence of Cigarette Culture

Graphic by Isa Delgado

The term “drunk cig” has become popular on many social media platforms, triggering increased enthusiasm among college demographics. Social media users have coined the term to describe smoking a cigarette while intoxicated – typically at an event or bar – and it is often shared among a group.

When searched on platforms such as TikTok, the term is frequently accompanied by memes stating these drunk cigarettes “don’t count.”

While often expressed in a humorous, lighthearted manner, it’s worth questioning why there is piqued interest and promotion of cigarette usage within our culture. To discuss this, we should understand the historical context of American cigarette culture.

The mid-1960s marked the peak of cigarette consumption with nearly half of American adults identifying as current smokers, according to the National Institute of Health. A shift in societal perceptions occurred when the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee released its 1964 report on the dangers of cigarette smoking.

As further reports followed in coming decades on the long-term health effects–such as cancer, dental problems, and heart disease–current smokers decreased by 22.2% in 2022.

Even with our current knowledge of the long-term effects of smoking, why is this not a deterrent among some college students? I asked University of Minnesota students just that.

Junior Sylvia Wessberg said she has had conversations with people who smoke “a lot,” and there is a general consensus that they just do not care.

“I found that it’s hard for people to look that far ahead and be like, ‘hmm how is this actually going to affect me’ and I think a lot of people don’t do that either,” Wessberg said. “It’s also the whole ‘drunk cig’ thing, like ‘drunk cigs don't count,’ pretty much everyone I know says and believes that.” 

Sophomore Allison Hilzendeger expresses similar opinions.

“When your generation is bogged down by like, ‘the end of the world could be soon, we can't afford anything,’ really, society is in one of its largest crises in a while, I don’t think many people are giving a f—k, for lack of a better word, if a cigarette might harm their lungs,” Hilzendeger said. 

With the age of technology, our society is constantly force-fed stimulation, technological advancements, media updates, world affairs and politics. There is little escape from the overwhelming flood of information we are subjected to.

For college students who already navigate a range of stressors, it’s easy to understand the appeal of sharing a cigarette with friends to escape this constant flux.

Current undergraduates–and some graduate students–have few memories of a childhood where technology was not at the forefront of daily life. Before smartphones became commonplace and much of society had near-total access to modern media, there was a different cadence to life.

In the last five years, we have witnessed numerous historical events, good and bad, all of which we experienced in our childhood and now navigate in our newly built adult lives. The short period of childhood where technology had less of a hold for Gen Z and we were less aware of world affairs marks a period of simplicity that becomes more elusive every day.

Our generation has a desire to escape modernity and connect with that prior simplicity, to traditionalist qualities such as self-reliance, detachment from constant stimulation and genuine face-to-face connections.

Cigarettes, in this context, serve as an embodiment of traditionalism, of simplicity, or at the least, an experience of it.

“We are in a time of escapism. I think any time you look at history, like let’s just say world war, the great depression, everybody is escaping their reality and trying to look for better things,” Hilzendeger said. “For us, that better is the past and cigarettes kind of originated, and I think will always stand in American culture, as ‘the escape.’”

Hilzendeger provided examples of cigarette usage depicted in film and television and how it has colored cigarettes as “the past time of freedom.”

With American culture angled towards mass consumerism, “the grind” mentality, a dog-eat-dog world and an increasingly difficult attainment of the American Dream, close-knit communities seem harder to come by. 

“We are at a time with very little community building, very little real interaction, but a lot of bogged-down information, and when you put all of those things together, people strive for a sense of community,” Hilzendeger said. “With that comes the freedom of indie sleaze coming back, cigarette culture, the idea of having a smoke with your friends, retreating from the ‘oppressions of your reality,’ as much as it's a reach of the past, it's a reach for community too.” 

Wessberg shares her experience and what brings her back to sharing a cigarette with friends, and how it’s not always about the enjoyment of smoking, but what the act entails.

“For me, I really like the social aspect of it…whenever I've tried quitting it’s always what brings me back to it,” Wessberg said.  “I’ll be at the bar and people say, ‘we're gonna go out for a cig’ and I want to be part of that conversation that’s going to happen out there, I do think Covid really affected the way people value time out and trying to connect with people.”

It seems this surged fascination with cigarette culture doesn’t stem from a desire of rebellion, or to “go against the grain,” of society, as some might believe.

Instead, it’s rooted in desires for connection, authenticity and community with fellow peers, as well as a brief escape from the pressures of society, further amplified by the media we are consistently exposed to. 

While I believe the term “drunk cig” is a fleeting fad that will pass with the next trending term, it reflects a deeply rooted desire for connection and simplicity amidst overwhelming pressures.

The last five years have been marked by significant global and societal events, and for a generation who has experienced so much – and feels the weight of that responsibility for the future – a retreat into traditionalism and seeking a moment of simplicity within a community doesn’t seem so out of place.