Banning Non Smokers Essay, Research Paper

November 15, 2000

Protecting Non-Smokers on Campus

People have many different views about smoking in public places. Smokers feel it is their right to smoke where and when they want. But non-smokers like me, feel that people who smoke are actually endangering my life and the lives of non-smokers. Smoking causes heart disease, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases. Smoking is attributed as the number one cause of lung cancer. The majority of non-smokers who have lung cancer receive it because of involuntary smoking or passive smoking. While people who smoke feel that smoking in campus should remain because it is their right, smoking in places where people gather should be banned. This is for the simple reason that second hand smoke endangers the lives of innocent non-smokers. Not only do smokers endanger other people?s lives, they pollute the environment too. Smoking at Shoreline should be either banned or laws must be made protecting the lives of the non-smokers and certain people should make sure the laws are being enforced.

At the present moment, Shoreline has no regulations on smoking. Smokers are allowed to smoke when and where they please. This creates a big problem to the non-smoking community at Shoreline. Signs posted outside of classrooms read ?No smoking within 30 feet of the building,? but students completely ignore the signs and smoke right in front of the classrooms. There are little mushroom clouds at every corner of the campus. Noticing the clouds gives one the notion that someone just dropped an atom

Philip 2

bomb over that area. As a result classrooms are filled with smoke from the cigarettes. When I walk by these areas, I am so overwhelmed by the smoke that I have to hold my breath until I clear that little area.

Another problem is that cigarette butts are left everywhere and this could create a fire hazard. Students carelessly throw away their cigarettes butts without bothering to put them out. There are designated bins, especially for cigarettes where one could put it out and throw it away but no one actually seems to do it. Imagine, on a hot summer day someone might forget to put the cigarette out and throw it out onto the grass. The grass could catch on fire, and spread, and burn the whole building down. Then Shoreline would start charging the students more tuition fees to cover the losses and the renovation of the buildings. Shoreline would also stop providing financial aid for the students who are from low-income families to cover the losses of the buildings. Then the students would be in deep trouble because of their inability to pay the tuition and would have to drop out of college. To ensure that a drastic thing like this won?t happen, Shoreline should make students more aware of how deadly of a fire hazard it is when one doesn?t bother to put their cigarette out.

Most of the time people start smoking because of his or her fellow friend. When people see their friends smoking they also feel like taking in a drag or two to be like them and to fit into the crowd. These smokers are in a way advertising smoking. Imagine how many people get hooked on cigarettes and get led to the doorstep of hell, just trying to be cool.

Another reason why smoking should be banned is because of the environment at Shoreline. Smoking really cripples the environment at Shoreline. Smoking is an air

Philip 3

pollutant and can damage the health of a person in a number of ways. As I mentioned before, air pollution can lead to many respiratory diseases. Shoreline doesn?t have a good ventilation system; therefore, all the smoke that enters the classrooms cannot escape because of the inadequate ventilation.

The solution for all the problems that I listed above is to ban smoking, but it is not going to happen in the near future. In the mean time, here are some solutions that I thought of to protect the non-smokers on campus.

Make tougher rules on smoking and enforce it. For example, students who smoke near the buildings where they are not allowed to should be fined a certain amount of money. More securities should be patrolling the campus looking for violators. I think a small smoking lounge should be created at least fifty feet away from every building so whenever a student feel the urge to smoke, they could go there and freely smoke without hurting others. A fund raising might help to cover the costs of building smoking lounges.

Above all, students should be made aware of the consequences of smoking. One should try to convince people that there is no point in smoking except the fact that he or she is increasing their chance of dying day by day by drawing in all that smoke. What Shoreline could do is offer programs and awards to students who are trying to quit. Give students classes on the consequences of smoking, and put anti smoking posters up. Enrolling in these smoking programs will help a person quit the habit of smoking. Give a smoker an award when he or she quits therefore, it would be an encouragement for them not to smoke anymore.

There is always a flipside to everything you do. In this case, banning smoking might provoke a fight in the campus between smokers and non-smokers because smokers

Philip 4

believe that smoking is their right. If we are going to build a smoking lounge, there is the problem of money. I don?t think a fund raising would be sufficient to cover all the costs of building but Shoreline can ask the Federal government for money to build smoking lounges. The government will surely provide finance for a good cause like this. Shoreline can charge students more on their tuition fees and use that extra amount to cover the costs of the building.

In conclusion there is no way we can solve the problem of smoking completely in one day. It would be a gradual process by educating people more about the consequences of smoking. Enforcing tougher laws on smoking in campus will surely reduce the habit of smoking. Designating areas where people can smoke will help reduce getting any diseases by passive smoking. Smoking cigarettes is a deadly habit, affecting the greatest number of people everyday. If people were to create a mental ban on smoking, Shoreline would have a healthier environment.