A Smoke Free campus is a bad idea (Opinions)
My opinion requires a small preface. I am not a smoker. I don't smoke sometimes, I don't smoke when I drink and I pretty much don't smoke anything. However, most of my friends are smokers and I don't have any problems with smokers in general. But for some reason a lot of whiny people getting their panties in a knot about having to deal with minuscule amounts of cigarette smoke in the open air.
It's a generally accepted fact that cigarette smoke and more specifically carbon monoxide, can give you cancer later down the road. It isn't a guaranteed thing though.
Now, one can argue that it only takes a small, seemingly insignificant amount of carcinogens to help you on the road to cancer. I firmly accept that carcinogens are a quick way to getting cancer but a minuscule amount from a cigarette in the open air isn't going to effect you much, if at all. You breathe in more carbon monoxide walking from campus to the CVS than you do walking behind a smoker from outside Subway to the Administration building.
There's a reason why there hasn't been any studies on cancer resulting from cigarette smoke inhalation in the open air: it's the most idiotic study to ever do. There are so many factors in the open air that are bad for you that it'd be nearly impossible to say what did what. Just like those truth.org people, it's easy to manipulate the numbers in your favor with a study like that.
Another complaint anti-smoker people have is that smokers “crowd” doorways. This is in fact, false. The smokers are a community and have created several social places that they almost always smoke at. If you are too lazy to walk the extra few feet to dodge the “torrents” of smoke, you deserve a little bit of carbon monoxide to the face. The places where smokers tend to hang out and smoke are pretty obvious and I'll outline them for you right here. You can find smokers outside the main entrance of the Student Center on the ground floor, outside the second floor, the back entrance to the Theatre department, outside the Social Sciences (farthest entrance to the Administration building before the Science building) wing entrance, outside North Towers lobby entrance, sometimes outside the secondary ground floor entrance to the Student Center, Wooddell lobby entrance, and pretty much any other place you see an ashtray. Now that you know where some of the main smoking places are, you can avoid them with ease and stop complaining.
And another thing, smoking in the residence halls should never be banned. One could throw out the argument of the no smoking in indoor facilities in Mercer County but the residence halls are just that, residences and are not subject to that. And regardless, there are already designated places in the dorms where people are allowed to smoke in their rooms. If you don't want to live on one of those floors, stop being lazy and move.
Something some complainers may not know is that there is a 25ft from any entrance rule for smokers. However, this isn't being enforced because Concord doesn't have the man power to really enforce it and I'm guessing the Administration doesn't really give a crap. So many people smoke on campus it'd become the biggest inconvenience for a large portion of people students, faculty and staff alike that it'd never happen.
A smoke free campus is a pipe dream. Just stop being lazy and walk around the smokers and remember that carcinogens are everywhere, not just in cigarettes. If someone wants to kill themselves slowly, let them. Don't infringe upon their liberties because they certainly aren't infringing upon your's. If you want to infringe upon someone's liberties, I'll infringe upon your's with my fist.
It's a generally accepted fact that cigarette smoke and more specifically carbon monoxide, can give you cancer later down the road. It isn't a guaranteed thing though.
Now, one can argue that it only takes a small, seemingly insignificant amount of carcinogens to help you on the road to cancer. I firmly accept that carcinogens are a quick way to getting cancer but a minuscule amount from a cigarette in the open air isn't going to effect you much, if at all. You breathe in more carbon monoxide walking from campus to the CVS than you do walking behind a smoker from outside Subway to the Administration building.
There's a reason why there hasn't been any studies on cancer resulting from cigarette smoke inhalation in the open air: it's the most idiotic study to ever do. There are so many factors in the open air that are bad for you that it'd be nearly impossible to say what did what. Just like those truth.org people, it's easy to manipulate the numbers in your favor with a study like that.
Another complaint anti-smoker people have is that smokers “crowd” doorways. This is in fact, false. The smokers are a community and have created several social places that they almost always smoke at. If you are too lazy to walk the extra few feet to dodge the “torrents” of smoke, you deserve a little bit of carbon monoxide to the face. The places where smokers tend to hang out and smoke are pretty obvious and I'll outline them for you right here. You can find smokers outside the main entrance of the Student Center on the ground floor, outside the second floor, the back entrance to the Theatre department, outside the Social Sciences (farthest entrance to the Administration building before the Science building) wing entrance, outside North Towers lobby entrance, sometimes outside the secondary ground floor entrance to the Student Center, Wooddell lobby entrance, and pretty much any other place you see an ashtray. Now that you know where some of the main smoking places are, you can avoid them with ease and stop complaining.
And another thing, smoking in the residence halls should never be banned. One could throw out the argument of the no smoking in indoor facilities in Mercer County but the residence halls are just that, residences and are not subject to that. And regardless, there are already designated places in the dorms where people are allowed to smoke in their rooms. If you don't want to live on one of those floors, stop being lazy and move.
Something some complainers may not know is that there is a 25ft from any entrance rule for smokers. However, this isn't being enforced because Concord doesn't have the man power to really enforce it and I'm guessing the Administration doesn't really give a crap. So many people smoke on campus it'd become the biggest inconvenience for a large portion of people students, faculty and staff alike that it'd never happen.
A smoke free campus is a pipe dream. Just stop being lazy and walk around the smokers and remember that carcinogens are everywhere, not just in cigarettes. If someone wants to kill themselves slowly, let them. Don't infringe upon their liberties because they certainly aren't infringing upon your's. If you want to infringe upon someone's liberties, I'll infringe upon your's with my fist.
