September 16, 2008

Campuses in Pennsylvania System Go Smoke-Free, Cold Turkey

Some students at the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education are fuming over a decision announced by their chancellor last week. On Wednesday, the day before a state law that prohibits smoking in any public place in Pennsylvania took effect, Chancellor John Cavanaugh informed them that the ban would be enforced everywhere on the system’s campuses, even outdoors.

The system’s 110,000 students got the word by e-mail late in the day, the Associated Press reported. Mr. Cavanaugh said he had discussed the new law with university presidents and system board members, and decided that it extended beyond buildings to include all campus grounds, such as courtyards, parking lots, and athletics fields.

On Monday students on several campuses lit up in protest, and while some received warnings, none were arrested. Officials have not discussed how the universities should respond to persistent violators, Mr. Cavanaugh told the AP. “We don’t expect anyone to be able to stop [smoking] overnight,” he said. “We’re not taking a position that our campus police are going to go around and round up people.”

At West Chester University, one dismayed smoker told The Quad, the student newspaper, that she “almost cried” after hearing about the ban. But another student was delighted, saying it was “nice to walk out of a building and not gag.”

According to the American Lung Association, more than 130 colleges and universities ban smoking on their entire campus, and at least 500 additional campuses prohibit tobacco use in residence halls. In a report last week, the association credited smoke-free laws and policies in part for a recent decline in the proportion of college students who smoke tobacco. —Charles Huckabee

Comments

1. I’m with this student:
   >>But another student was delighted, saying it was “nice to walk out of a building and not gag.”<<
   If only they’d ban tobacco on MY campus!

   — Ashley    Sep 16, 04:05 PM    #

2. It warms my heart to know a group of random, self-righteous individuals are always available to tell me what I can eat, where I can smoke, and how I can live my life.

   Let’s ban cell phones, transfats, loud noises and bare bellies.

   Then let’s ban chemical cleaners, gas-powered vehicles, all leather goods, and spray paint.

   No, wait! I can keep going!

   Credit cards, non-organic vegetables….

   I want my NANNY STATE!

   — DoubleCross    Sep 16, 04:40 PM    #

3. #1 – You might not be too far off — the NIH in Bethesda just banned ALL tobacco products from their campus… there’s gonna be a lot of grumpy nicotine-starved nerds up there…

   — Bob    Sep 16, 04:54 PM    #

4. You know, if the ban was about anything other than smoking, there would be marching in the streets. Talk about discrimination – oh, but we mustn’t be politically incorrect. The thought police might show up for a re-education session.

   — Heron    Sep 16, 05:19 PM    #

5. Extremist politicians are waisting our $$ in campaigns aginst tabacco, against guns, againt our choise to terminate a pregnacy or give birth an unwanted baby, etc. I want to keep my right to live my live in FREEDOM! Lets tell those politicians that we want they to use that $$ for something more productive to the society than banning our rights.

   — Mayelin Fuentes    Sep 17, 05:11 PM    #

6. This is just another AMAZING step towards making people take responsibility for their own actions. If you’re in denial about tobacco being bad for you then that is fine. If you’re defensive about your addiction because there is not a single benefit that comes from smoking, I can understand that too. After all it’s hard to be addicted to something that is so clearly pointless and harmful. BUT, if you want to tell me that you should polute the air that others have to breathe in… I can not understand that. So, you go outside and stand 5 feet from the entrance to a building to light up… sorry, I’m still breathing in your deadly fumes when I want to walk by. To reinforce my concern, some of the 4000 chemicals contained in cigarettes are : hydrogen cyanide, lead, copper, Formaldehyde , ammonia, acetone, tar, and arsenic (rat poison).

   As far as the “waste” of money on these issues, tobacco use, including secondhand smoke, is the number one causes of preventable deaths in the US. Over 1200 people die every day in this country because of tobacco.

   This isn’t an infringement on rights. If you don’t like it, go to a school that still allows smoking (while they last that is). I often get the impression that people who smoke think they are in the majority. The Dept. of Health website for PA shows that fewer than 1/4 of Pennsylvanians smoke.

   So, stop talking about Freedom… any number of regulations are in place to protect your health as this does mine (i.e. health inspectors in restuarants and the illegality of driving under the influence). And stop arguing that people who don’t want to be subjected to secondhand smoke should avoid it. If I want to walk somewhere, I don’t do anyone any harm. If you walk by me smoking, you’re putting everyone’s health around you at risk. Take responsibility for your addiction and stop getting angry just because you can’t admit that you can’t quit and are just being defensive. There are a number of websites and quitlines that you can go to and I strongly recommend that. As the new Clean Indoor Air Act states on the DOH website, “There’s a new AIR in Pennsylvania,” and your cigarette smoke has no place in it. I hope all of you who are complaining decide to use this as a catalyst for quitting.

   — Alex    Sep 17, 08:44 PM    #

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