No More Tobacco on Campus?

Source from:  STEPHEN HELEKER Opinion Writer 3/13/08 03/14/2008

The Associate Students of Boise State has recently passed legislation that will make BSU a tobacco-free campus. This ban on tobacco will, of course, entail both smoking and smokeless tobacco. A committee has been appointed to oversee the instatement of the new policies. Gabe Murphy, an ASBSU senator and an opinion writer for The Arbiter has been appointed to be a member on the committee. In his article, "Smoke and gas," he compared the impoliteness of smoking in public to you-know-what. Tobacco will be banned in two steps. The first step will be to allow specific smoking zones but prohibit tobacco use anywhere else on campus. Later, even these smoking zones will be taken away, and Boise State will officially be a tobacco-free campus. I'm not sure how tobacco use will be governed or punished after this legislation takes place, but I can't see the policy being readily adopted by what must be hundreds, if not thousands, of Boise State students and faculty that smoke habitually. It would seem odd to enforce a heavy punishment on tobacco users, as tobacco is both legal and strongly addictive, but without some kind of fine, the rule will be impossible to enforce. Another issue that is important to this legislation is the rights of the people that attend Boise State University both as students and as citizens of the United States. Above all, this legislation is taking away the right to use tobacco from everyone on campus. While that is not a major freedom, it is nevertheless one that it going to be taken away. The new legislation is engineered for the safety and courtesy of students. Second hand smoke is harmful and smells bad. I have only a mild case of asthma, but walking within a few feet of someone who is smoking is enough to limit my breathing for hours. It is also a smell that lingers on clothes and in the air if there is no wind. Another issue with tobacco is its function in campus pollution. Cigarette filters are floatable litter; if they are left on the ground, as they often are, they stand a good chance of eventually floating down our rivers and canals. This brings me to an important political idea: the balance between rights and morals, well-being and freedom. Is it good for anyone to smoke? I'm pretty sure the majority of students would agree with me that it is not. Do its negative affects make it OK to ban it altogether? We might be a little more ambiguous here. I, for one, say that it is, but I think it is important to consider the importance of our freedoms. Should students and faculty really have to wait until they have time to leave campus to smoke? Residence hall students may have to walk across the street to smoke. And what of chewing tobacco, which has far fewer affects on others, but will also be banned? This policy has good intentions, and I am in favor of the prohibition of tobacco. However, without tobacco being universally banned it will be difficult, if not impossible, to effectively remove it from campus. Enditem