Put this in your pipe and smoke it

As an unrepentant smoker who has seen smoking move from a mainstream middle class activity to a marginalized and even demonized activity, the current initiative to create a smoke free campus is extremely troubling. In defense of smokers’ rights and liberties in general I would like to make several points.First, as I understand the statistics provided, about a third of those polled support a smoking ban. Last time I looked this was not a majority. Are we living in a democracy or a theocracy? If a public organization wishes to ban a legal activity I would suggest it be required to attain a super majority at least and in this poll the super majority did not support this proposed ban. As a state institution we have an obligation to be inclusive. Smoking is currently a legal although restricted activity. The statistics reported show a substantial number of students, staff and faculty smoke. Do we as a state sponsored institution have a right to exclude 10 to 20 percent of the law-abiding tax paying public? The argument is that smoking students are less desirable students. Is this a hidden attack on Class differences? There was no problem with smoking when it was a middle class activity but now that the majority of smokers are working class it’s ok to discriminate against them. Isn’t a goal of the public education system in this country to use education to improve the society? How can this goal be reached when we exclude those that often need education the most? Additionally, I question the statistics used. Simple frequencies often hide spurious effects. Smoking is already highly restricted on campus. Do we need yet more restrictions on our liberties? How about we enforce the policies we already have? If we ban smoking what will be next. The argument made is often that second hand smoke is a health hazard; that is why we have been relegated to the great outdoors. What about those often unregulated lawn maintenance implements spewing out foul fumes and obnoxious noises or the cars and buses polluting our pure campus environment? Maybe we should ban them as well. We already have so many restrictions that we do not enforce on this campus. Daily I witness numerous near misses as those on foot dive for cover from the illegal activities of bicyclists and skateboarders. Will it take litigation from an injured individual to wake us up to the real dangers on this campus? Educate and enforce the policies we have now, don’t make new, more restrictive ones that will drive people away. Are we trying to become a Metropolitan Research University of Distinction or a university famous for gimmicks? According to the statistics released, 16 other universities, of the thousands of colleges and universities in this land, ban smoking. That is not a bandwagon or even a trend, so why should we jump on it. If we want to attract top students how about we fund our education system appropriately instead of offering dubious bells and whistles? Catch phrases and pretty pictures will not attract and keep the top students, top programs will. Much more could be said but my space is limited. We as a society once before tried to ban a morally questionable behavior and what was the result of prohibition? If we ban smoking what will be next and who will decide? Steven Patrick is a professor in the Department of Sociology

STEVEN PATRICK
Guest Opinion

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