I don’t smoke but the persecution of smokers makes me want to burn through an entire pack.
A proposed amendment to the Student Code of Conduct would strengthen the campus ban on smoking and allow police to fine violators $25 the first time, $50 the second, and $75 the third.
This treats smokers like second class citizens. I know many people who smoke and are aware of the health risks inherent in inhaling smoke from a burning rod filled with harmful chemicals.
However, they’re not going to stop because of bans like this. All this serves is to screw over a group of people while health nuts pat themselves on the back for doing a fine job.
Despite my assertion, I can understand the basis for the ban. Dr. Stanton Glantz, the director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at UC San Francisco, was quoted in an ABC News article from 2005 as saying, “When you make workplaces, public places, restaurants and bars smoke-free, people smoke less. They sell fewer cigarettes.”
Additionally, Dr. Glantz states that they have “consistently found that you get a 30 percent drop in cigarette consumption when you make a workplace smoke-free.”
Obviously DVC isn’t a workplace but a smoking ban would have a similar effect, since making it harder to smoke would surprisingly produce less smokers. I also entirely understand that smoking is not healthy. Still, it’s not going to wipe out smoking entirely and it will just serve to torment people who can’t stop smoking.
The rules we have in place are fine right now. Don’t get burnt up about it.