Cigarette smoking has been found as the biggest source of preventable morbidity and premature mortality worldwide.

According to the California Department of Public Health, smoking kills more Americans each year than consuming alcohol, car accidents, suicide, AIDS, homicide and illegal drugs combined making it the leading cause of preventable illness in the United States.

A key component for a healthy campus community is to make Diablo Valley College a smoke-free campus.

Today, there are over 1,000 college campuses that are smoke-free. It is important that we provide a better environment that is healthy for all who spend time on our campus because secondhand smoke exposure causes common illnesses; therefore students are missing classes.

A potentially dangerous effect of smoking on campus is second-hand smoke exposure. The designated smoking area are located at every entrance of DVC, so students and staff have to walk through clouds of smoke just to enter campus.

DVC provides a childcare for their students’ children and it’s less than 100 feet away from some of the smoking areas. This is life-threatening because it decreases lung efficiency and impairs lung function in children, and increases childhood asthma.

I am 19 years old and full time student at DVC, and I feel it’s crucial to make DVC smoke-free. The first step to reinforce a smoke-free campus is to remove all ashtrays and post smoke-free signs.

To maintain good health and a healing environment, DVC should be a smoke-free campus.