ALBANY, N.Y. -- Tobacco companies say they're just out pitching their products, handing out free packs of cigarettes to smokers in clubs and pubs around New York, trying to get them to switch brands.

Anti-smoking advocates, though, call the free smokes a way to get the casual smoker to puff regularly. Though these giveaway programs started in primarily larger cities such as New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, now patrons in smaller cities including Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Huntington can find free packs of smokes in trendier bars. "Selling something that is killing people is bad enough, but to give it away is kind of unbelievable," said Andria Bentley, a 19-year-old political science major at the University at Albany student who has seen the sampling at local bars. At Lark Tavern, Camel representatives often appear on weekends or during live music sets, looking for smokers. They ask those with cigarettes if they would like two free packs, take their IDs to scan and return with the Camels most similar to their regular brand. Called the Camel Club, first launched in 1994, the program has been in Albany since the spring of 2001. "We are trying to get these adult smokers to switch to our brands," said David Howard, spokesman for R.J. Reynolds. Marcy Wamp, director of the New York State College Alliance Against Tobacco, disagreed. "Their purpose is to get social, 'once in a while' smokers to become regular customers," she said. The alliance is on many campuses statewide, including Cornell University, Hartwick College, Niagara University and the State University of New York at Brockport. Wamp compared the free samples to those given out by cookie companies, except cookies are not "highly addictive substances." "If someone does not want to participate, they don't have to," countered Howard. The representatives go to smoker-friendly places with age restrictions and only communicate with those who are already smokers, he said. David Adelman, tobacco analyst for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, agrees that the free samples encourages brand switching. "If you aren't a smoker, I don't think it's going to affect you at all," he said. "Everybody likes free stuff," said Lark Tavern owner G.E. Maugere. The nonsmoker did not contact the company to do promotions and doesn't believe the giveaways increase foot traffic because representatives show up when the bar is already busy. "The Camel fairies are wonderful," said smoker Conner Bambrick, 24, who works for a nonprofit group. He has seen them in many settings, including concerts. He said he has often thought of quitting smoking, treating a pack of cigarettes as though it were his last, but then the "fairies" appear. Bambrick has never chosen one bar over another for the chance of getting free cigarettes, though Howard said the program helps foot traffic in venues. Venues that sign up for the program receive ashtrays, napkins and other promotional merchandise, as well as money toward events such as bands. Howard said the company does not sell the information scanned off the IDs or give it to any third parties but adds the names and addresses to product mailing lists. Since the Master Settlement Agreement in 1998, which banned tobacco companies from targeting youth in advertising, other programs, like these giveaways, have sprung up around the country. "College students are becoming increasingly aware of how they are targeted by the tobacco industry's advertising tactics," said Toni Gauthier, substance abuse specialist at Nazareth College in Rochester, where club promotions have also been taking place. Gauthier is an adviser for the college's Peer Heath Educators program. "Peer educators like ours at Nazareth College are speaking up, speaking out and taking action," she said.

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