Across the country, more and more colleges are banning smoking from their campuses altogether. According to an article in USA Today, about 43 campuses have completely gone smoke-free, which means that smoking is no longer allowed anywhere on their campuses, not even in usually designated spots.
Betsy Foy of the American College Health Association says that students form lifelong habits in college and that reducing students’ exposure to cigarettes can have a lasting effect. Studies show that nearly 31% of full-time college students smoke. There was no mention of students who started smoking in high school.
The Indiana Daily Student said the full ban is an “infringement on personal liberties.” Chuck Kupchella, president of the University of North Dakota, on the other hand, fully supports the idea of a full ban. He says, “We want our institution to make a statement about doing the right things when it comes to good health.” He adds, “Smokers will still have rights, but just not on our campus.”
While Kupchella wants to make a statement about student health, he appears to disregard the rights of students. Student Alex Wukmer, age 19, says, “I can vote for president of the United States. I can go to war But I can’t necessarily smoke a cigarette because they’re afraid I’ll make a bad choice?”
These students are adults in the legal sense who make big decisions, like which college to go to, and yet their school does not seem to let them make a decision about their own health. Is this the right thing to do?
Most colleges in the country have banned smoking within their dorms and the immediate area surrounding them. Dorms are now equipped with highly sensitive smoke detectors, which are so sensitive that burning popcorn can usually set them off. Students sometimes have to smoke as far away as the parking lots.
Because Northeastern is a commuter school, a full ban would not have as big an impact as it would in universities with dorms. At Northeastern, smokers would only have to cross the street to ‘light up’ or wait until after their classes finish to start smoking, that is if they can wait that long.
Designated smoking areas have slightly mollified smokers for now, but with the growth of nonsmoking areas, it might only be a matter of time before a full ban takes effect and smoking is taken out of the hands of student’s altogether.