Benefits of a ban
(In response to Ryan Sweeney’s Wednesday column, “Proposed ban is oppressive.”)
I am writing to address some of your points in your point-counterpoint piece in which I am mentioned:
The major reason to have a smoke-free policy at ASU would be to protect the health of all members of the University community, non-smokers and smokers. If the ban also assists the 70 percent of smokers who want to quit by creating the environment that supports them in their pursuit of quitting that is a very positive bonus rather than a hidden agenda.
My role as the Director of Campus Health and as a physician in the state of Arizona is to protect the health of students at ASU and to help create a healthier campus environment. The viewpoint expressed in the piece glosses over the scientific data on the real effects of second-hand smoke that even many of the opponents of the smoking ban acknowledge. Any substance that increases the risk of cardiovascular death by 30 percent is more than a public nuisance. The effects of second-hand smoke are not dose related and there is no data to show there is a “safe” amount of second-hand smoke. Smoking is the No. 1 overall preventable cause of death in the United States.
We can respectfully disagree on the “rights” of the smoker versus the “rights” of the non-smoker to have to inhale the smoke, but we must be truthful in the harmful effects that second-hand smoke plays to all of those who are exposed. I support the Health and Counseling Student Action Committee’s (HCSAC) proposal for a smoke-free campus and hope that like 381 other campuses across the United States that ASU joins them in protecting the health of our students, faculty and staff.
Allan L Markus Director, Campus Health Services
