ABSTRACT. Smoking is considered responsible for the death of millions of people every year around the world. The aim of this survey was to evaluate the smoking habits of medical students at the University of Athens, since they are expected to have leading role in antismoking campaign due to their doctor status in future. A 32-item anonymous questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 418 students, 231 males and 187 females, at Athens Medical School, irrespective of the semester they attended. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS program. Sixty-eight percent of the students were found to have tried smoking; of them, 40% are regular smokers, 47% occasional and 13% ex-smokers. Thirty five per cent of smokers started smoking at some age between 15-18 years and 27% are light smokers (1-10 cigarettes daily). Males reported that the main reason for starting smoking was pleasure (32%), whereas females said it was anxiety (28%) or curiosity (28%). Smoking habit is related to alcohol consumption (p=0.0001). Lastly, 8% of the students are unaware of the adverse effects smoking has on health. In conclusion, more efforts to educate students about the harmful consequences of smoking are needed, so as to reduce the percentage of smokers among medical students. Pneumon 2003, 16(3):314-321.