The use of tobacco products on campus has been an issue that we have been seeing more and more of recently. Many believe that Keene State College should become a tobacco–free campus, eliminating the use of tobacco products on school property.
Personally, I do not condone this movement. I believe that smokers should have the right to smoke if they wish to do so. Everybody knows that smoking is unhealthy—at this point it is just common sense. However, that does not give the college the right to enact policies that would not allow smokers to continue smoking if they chose to do so.
Tobacco is legal. Therefore, anyone has the right to use it. Colleges do not have the right to take that away from anybody. It is unfair and unjust to do so.
Along with the students living on campus, there are also a number of professors who smoke, and their right to do so would also be affected by these policies. The arguments for a tobacco-free campus can easily be disproved. One of the biggest arguments is that it protects non-smokers from second-hand smoke. However, the amount of second-hand smoke while walking around campus is little to none. There are already designated areas where students can and cannot smoke, so if people wish to avoid it, it is not really all that hard.
Also, passing by someone who is smoking will have very little to no effect on said passer-by. The second-hand smoke would only have detrimental effects if the non-smoker were exposed to it for an extended amount of time. That being said, sitting next to someone as they smoke a cigarette would carry negative effects. However, this is easily avoidable.
Another argument often presented for a smoke-free campus is that it would discourage students from smoking. This is entirely untrue. Tobacco is a real addiction—one that many have a difficult time getting rid of.
By not allowing it on campus, these students would just go somewhere else to smoke. It is not as easy as just telling them they are no longer allowed to smoke on campus—the bottom line is, smokers are still going to smoke regardless.
I talked to a number of students and asked if the smoking on campus bothered them, and the vast majority said no. Most of these people were also non-smokers. In my opinion, smoking on campus really doesn’t bother as many people as some seem to think.
Most people just ignore it, and do not really even pay attention to it either way. For these reasons, I think that smoking in designated areas on campus should continue to be allowed for students and faculty at KSC. It is important to realize that we have the right to make our own decisions regarding our health, whether or not others may disagree. Again, we have to recognize that smoking is an addiction that many cannot control, and even those who can should still be allowed to smoke if they so desire. It is entirely up to the smoker.
Devon Roberts can be contacted at droberts@keene-equinox.com
KSC2014
I’m a smoker and I agree with the college trying to make it a smoke free campus. Two things you seem to not be understanding about this issues. One is the college isn’t telling people they can’t smoke. If a ban were enacted people could still smoke. Second the college has the right to do what they want with their property. If they want to make it smoke free they can do that just as a homeowner would have the right to ban smoking on their property. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if people had to walk off campus to smoke. I’m pretty sure they’d survive. This is coming from a current smoker.