When a smoker inhales a plume of relief from a cigarette, it is not with blissful ignorance. No. They’re well aware each drag cuts x-amount of days off their lives.
The California State University system is on an unnecessary mission to cure smokers of their dirty addictions. In spring 2013, the CSU Academic Senate approved a request for the chancellor to modify CSU policy to “create a smoke-free university system.” In spring 2012, CSU Senate also passed a ban of tobacco product sales on CSU campuses.
The problem with creating bans on CSU campuses is that it will only be an inconvenience for smokers.
When CSU Fullerton enforced an all-out smoking ban on campus, smokers were obviously unhappy about the results. Students said that they found themselves rushing between minimal breaks to run to the edges of campus for a smoke. Some found themselves chain-smoking to satiate nicotine levels until the next available opportunity to trek off state grounds.
CSUF reported an estimated $116,000 went into converting the campus to smoke-free. Should the ban pass at CSU Long Beach, student tuition and Californian tax dollars would be going towards telling adults what they can and cannot put into their bodies. This does not seem to be the most practical way to spend the university budget.
In response to the smoking ban referendum in 2013, CSULB President Jane Close Conoley created a smoking ban task force early this semester and more recently sent out a survey with the intention to comprehend campus’ smoking habits.
I appreciate a slow burn on the decision-making process; this way Conoley can filter through all the possible decisions and outcomes.
After letting it lie dormant for two years, Conoley has finally decided to brush the dust and ashes off the old smoking ban proposal.
The Center for Disease Control estimates that about 20 percent of American adults still smoke. If the campus is any representation of American smokers, an all out ban would potential ostracize nearly 2000 students, not to mention the unrepresented faculty and staff population who would be just as equally affected, yet somehow had little to no input before the survey.
In the email last week, Conoley said that she did not want to marginalize the smoking population on campus. A smoking ban would do exactly that. A ban implies that a smoker’s lifestyle is not accepted on campus. Leave when you want to smoke.
And smokers will do just that. Smoking is an addiction. Walking off campus won’t deter the habit. However, it will decrease productivity, as it is a journey every time the nicotine itch comes a-knockin’. WebMD credits cigarette cravings to triggers of routine. A school day is nothing but monotonous routine… and stress – the number one trigger.
Creating an all-out smoking ban on campus will not promote better health among students. Smokers will continue to do so. What is a smoker without smoking? Preventing people from smoking on campus will not help them kick the habit. Rather, it will snub them out as equals.