In response to Ryan Brosch's Oct. 24 letter to the editor, "Smoking ban will lead to bullying."
Have you ever seen pictures of black lungs? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, secondhand smoke exposure causes an estimated 46,000 heart disease deaths and an estimated 3,400 lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers in the U.S. Personally, I prefer not to be a part of that statistic or have my lung be another one of those pictures. Yet, every day, I have to pass by people who smoke right next to buildings on the Downtown and Tempe campuses, putting me at risk. I understand that people have the right to choose to smoke, but it’s not fair that I don’t have a choice as to whether or not I can breathe clean air when passing smokers. Students go to school to learn and get an education, but it is harmful to our health and environment to have exposure to second-hand smoke.
I do agree with Ryan Brosch who said the ban would lead to bullying. It is not a good idea to leave the enforcement of this ban in the hands of students and faculty. However, that doesn’t mean nothing should be done. We need smoking to be banned on ASU campuses and for it to be enforced by campus security and even city law enforcement that might see the issue. I would say a student’s right to breathe right and healthily is far more important than a smoker’s desire to smoke on campus. I feel like the law that was established to have people smoke 20 feet from public buildings was abused and ignored, and that a ban is necessary to get a message across about smoking and how it is affecting students who do not want to be put at risk.
Nicole Northcutt
Undergraduate
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