“Exposure to the toxins in secondhand smoke can cause asthma, cancer and other serious problems,” according to the Mayo Clinic. So why is there so much resistance to the proposed tobacco ban on ASU campuses?
The Undergraduate Student Government Senate sent the bill that would impose such a ban back to the Senate University Affairs Committee on March 23 in order to allow more time for investigation before passing or denying the bill. In my opinion, there isn’t a good reason why this ban shouldn’t be passed, in a modified form at least.
First of all, let me say that while I do not support an overall tobacco ban, I do find it necessary to enforce a smoking ban. While users of dip and chewing tobacco maintain a very private relationship with their tobacco and carcinogens, smokers do not. The byproduct of their habit has no boundaries, making the discussed compromise of smoking zones no more effective than a cigarette’s filter.
Opponents of the ban cite a violation of rights. They claim that the school has no business telling them what they can and cannot do with their bodies. And they are right in saying that — however, the moment that I get a whiff of your cigarette smoke is the moment that your habit becomes my health issue.
These protectors of liberty oftentimes use the slippery slope argument when discussing bans on smoking. “If you take away our freedom to smoke a cigarette, what’s next? Are they going to tell us what we can and cannot eat?” To them I ask, “Since when does your right to smoke trump my right to not smoke?” Better yet, since when is smoking even a right?
Saying that smoking is a right is like saying that my ex-girlfriend’s cooking was gourmet. They both take about the same amount of talent to do, and they both taste terrible.
But seriously, it’s time to stop confusing social norms with constitutional rights. Just because Americans have been smoking for hundreds of years doesn’t mean it has become any less harmful, and with the new health care legislation, it will benefit everyone if there were fewer smokers.
Look at a smoking ban as a preventive measure. One of the main reasons people start smoking is because of peer pressure. If ASU does its part to curb smoking, maybe it keeps a bunch of freshmen from picking up the habit. When those kids grow up they may not have to rely on government money for their health care. Whether or not you think it’ll be an effective measure is irrelevant. It’s something that just makes sense for the state and for my lungs.
Cullen is a journalism junior. Reach him at cullen.wheatley@asu.edu
