Sunday, 26 July 2009

  • Smoking Ban in Colleges



    For a few years at my college, there was a rule that was never followed: smokers must be at least 25 feet away from an entrance. Well, you were supposed to be given a $25 ticket if you violated this rule.

    Was it enforced? Nope.

    I remember always walking into various buildings including the Cafeteria and Library, and there were people standing right outside the door smoking. I seriously considered getting a gas mask, because I was so overwhelmed by the huge cloud of smoke.

    This past year, the college polled the students about a smoking ban. I'm not sure how it turned out, but the college board voted to pass a ban. So, as of August 1, there is a no-smoking ban on campus.

    I don't know if anyone is going to follow it, but I definitely think it is a good thing for everyone's health.

    Do you think this ban is fair? Why or why not?

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Comments (83)

  • S0N1@xanga

    I think it is fair.  
  • Shinbi_Belldandy@xanga

    If people want to smoke fine, but not everyone likes it. I support the ban in enclosed public places because as a person with asthma, clean air is important. The smell of cigarettes makes me cough & sneeze & can set off an attack in minutes. I like my breath taken away figuratively, not literally.


    If people smoke in their homes, I dont mind. Usually people are curtious & wait for me to leave or go into another room but in public, clean air should be observed.
  • MangoWOW@xanga

    I think it's fair because in general smoking should be banned in public buildings (especially schools and businesses) in my opinion.
    But I dont think it's going to be followed.
    Same with my school: there is an official rule stating that smoking is banned on university grounds but we have not only students but professors and other faculty smoking as well. No one really cares. (neither do I really. As long as its not inside the building I could care less)
  • joycemiles@xanga

    that's awesome- I'm glad our college doesn't allow smoking- and it's enforced :) I get some weird allergic reaction- I cough/get a scratchy throat- so I love when I don't have to worry about that kind of stuff around campus

  • backward_glance@datingish

    I would love love love a smoking ban on campus --it drives me insane when I get stuck walking behind a smoker and the smoke keeps blowing into my face.  Would it actually be enforced and followed?  I doubt it.  But it's a nice attempt anyhow.  Maybe it would be more realistic to have designated smoking areas? 
  • jupiter312@xanga

    I wish my school had a smoking ban.  I hate walking outside, expecting fresh air, and instead inhaling a huge cloud of smoke.
  • la_faerie_joyeuse@xanga

    If they don't follow the more lax rules about entrances, then clearly the harsher measures are necessary to push them out of the way of people who genuinely do not want to be subjected to cigarette smoke. The NEED for clean air should always outweigh the DESIRE for a cigarette.
  • Ex_Adyto_Cordis@xanga
    Private school, yes. It's a private institution. But public schools, no. Especially not on the open campus where they aren't enclosed and people can avoid the smoke.
  • Mrkt_it@xanga

    it's great that their are some school ban smoking. I would agree on this because i believe it will also help a lot of students..
  • Alatariel40@xanga

    My allergy includes itching, headache, and nausea with the basic respiratory problems, so I'm all for a ban around me. Outside is another question. Total ban does restrict some freedoms. If people want to be stupid, let them be stupid and improve the gene pool.
  • UQuest@xanga

    just my own opinion.. (I know smokers will totally swear at me..) bu ti think they should ban is everywhere... why smoke? I don't get it.. I know some girls smoke to loose weight.. but it's really disgusting. the smell, the appearance.. and has anyone realize that they just LITTER??!!! it's not cool.
    my brother once tried it.. (I was 7 or 8 so i didn't stop him..) he said it taste like shiet.. (just an expression..) it smells disgusting too.

    I'm a smoke detector.. I choke on the smell of it. =)
  • laytexduckie@xanga

    At my school, you have to be 20 feet away from the entrance. Of course nobody followed it. And one time, I had an annoying freshman blow smoke in my face as I went into the building and as I came out of the building, accompanied with a retarded "Puhhhhhhhhh" sound. I do add that I go to an art school, so you would say, "Yeah, smoking is normal." I mean, as long as they just don't smoke inside or blow smoke in my face, I'm fine. 
  • tokyoexpressman@xanga

    @UQuest@xanga - I smoke because I enjoy it. I can quit for long periods of time and I don't fiend for cigarettes, but I honestly enjoy them. It's hard to explain this to nonsmokers, but some people actually like the flavor of tobacco (all cigarettes have different blends, thus different flavors). I don't smoke for the nicotine rush (which I no longer get) or because I can't live without them; I smoke because I enjoy it.

    My campus has the 25 foot rule and I obey that. I don't camp out by the building entrances or smoke in the middle of large crowds of people, so when people say that all the smokers they meet are assholes, all I have to say is "Sorry."

    Personally I think campus smoking bans are discriminatory and unfair, especially when most of the smokers I see on campus congregate far away from crowded paths, obey the 25 foot rule, and don't blow smoke wantonly. I'm all for making smokers smoke in established areas, but banning it all together is ridiculously unfair.
  • cillyria@xanga

    We have some restriction at my university. There's no smoking in front of dorms, within 20 feet of an entrance, and obviously no smoking indoors. Nobody follows it, naturally, and I've never seen it enforced.

    I don't care about smoking. It's a personal choice and it's none of my business. The only thing I wouldn't do is smoke around kids or pregnant women. Other than that, whatever.
  • vintagaegal19@xanga

    I am definitely all for the ban on public smoking. I don't care if you're not by an entrance. Do it in private.
  • Im_Just_Crazy_Haha@xanga

    I don't like smoking in general... x.x
    So I like that rule.
  • tastytimmm@xanga

    @tokyoexpressman@xanga - The ban wouldn't be necessary if someone enforced the 25 foot rule  it's both the school and smokers faults.

    A couple negative externalities come to mind about smoking to me. #1 is second hand smoke. I don't want none of it! #2 is litter. But I guess tons of people litter who aren't smokers lol
  • dreamer_in_my_heart@xanga

    My college had a smoking ban.  The only place you were allowed to smoke (on campus) was the smoker's gazebo.  It was out in the back of a parking lot away from buildings and people.  You weren't allowed to smoke on campus at all.  It was very, very nice.  I think it's great to have a smoking ban.  Not everyone wants to inhale the secondhand smoke.  Especially if you're allergic to it...
  • SnowGlobe2954@xanga

    @Ex_Adyto_Cordis@xanga - I entirely agree.

    My school is thinking of instituting a smoking ban, which I totally oppose. Public schools should not be telling people whether or not they can smoke. If someone wants to smoke between classes, they'll have to go off campus to do so. That forces smokers to either be late for their next class, or to pick their class schedules based on their smoking schedule. It's not the school's business to decide that for its students.

    (I do agree with tastytimmm@xanga, however, that the 25-foot ban should be enforced. People don't like walking through a cloud of smoke to get inside a building.)
  • testubebaby@xanga

    if you can't beat em, join em!

    just kidding, I just feel like bans like these never work. where I live they've put a ban on smoking indoors - including bars, restaurants and clubs. ha. ha. ha.
  • CelticKungFu@xanga

    I am a non-smoker.  I belive that a public institution should not ban this. I think that it violates personal liberity rights if a state or government imposes such a rule. If a private institution impiments such a rule, they are allowed to though I think that it would still be a limiting of personal liberties, though not unconstitutional.

    I realize that some people have alergies or it is annoying to smell the smoke and can be a health risk, but not outdoors, really. But it is not in a confined space that you are required to be in (its the whole smoking ban in private businesses, you aren't required to eat or drink at Moe's Tavern or Pizza Hut with a smoking area, its the private businesses choice). But if there was smoking in a classroom, different story.

  • enterthelabyrinth@xanga

    My alma mater did this last year due to the new Pennsylvania laws regarding smoking inside a state facility/restaurant/etc. And while they removed the large decorative ash trays and told everyone that smoking was no longer allowed, by the time I graduated in May, no one was following the ban. The school itself even tried to allow smoking for on campus residents as long as you were at a designated bench area, but that was shut down by the state, being told that the state's new law will remain in effect completely.

    I found people still smoked and just left the butts on the ground. Much uglier. But smokers bring it on themselves, smoking right outside a door or getting into group formation in the middle of a crowded, often used pathway...it violates non smokers and causes problems which inevitably led to the state wide decision to ban smoking. I honestly don't care if you smoke, but don't do it in such a way that I have absolutely no choice but to walk through your mess myself. I didn't support the ban, but I also don't support smokers that invade in to everyone else's personal bubbles. I know plenty of friends that smoke and yet, I don't have to breathe it in from them, so why do I have to breathe it in from a complete stranger?
  • dandymandie@xanga

    At the college I went to, we were smoke-free and dry campus.  We were also supposed to avoid both outside of the campus as well.  Not really followed on that end, but oh well.  We snuck around/behind buildings and such, but anyone caught had a hefty talk with the dean of students, and sometimes were enforced with a fine/loss of priviledges (a handful of students were put at the bottom of the list for housing selection for the next year).  Of course though, there's always the jocks that get the special treatment, but at my college, we had to sign something about agreeing with rules and such.

    If you sign it, oh well.  Otherwise, the unwritten rules that some colleges write up are just ridiculous.  I pay thousands of dollars to go there, I think it'd be okay for me to smoke (even if there's a special spot) if I was legally of age.
  • MusicologyNut85@xanga

    @tokyoexpressman@xanga - Agreed! Just because the rules are not enforced and some people disobey them does not make it right to ban it altogether.
  • Shy___Away@xanga

    @CelticKungFu@xanga - I agree!

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