As if university students who smoke didn/t have enough to worry about already, UF will ban cigarette smoking on campus beginning in July 2010. Healthy Gators is quick to point out that only 9 percent of UF students smoke. But just because someone is in the minority doesn/t mean their rights should be taken away. Last we checked, this was America.
Some students are addicted to cigarettes and just need to smoke. It might not be you, and it might not be 91 percent of your friends, but that demographic exists. And on campus, after a stressful exam or in the midst of a class-filled Monday, campus might be the only place students can get some of the much needed stress reduction.
And for those who raise the argument that they shouldn/t have to be exposed to second-hand smoke: Who are you kidding? As though entering a sanitized bubble for three hours a day like John Travolta in "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" is going to make up for the smoke-filled porches and drunk-filled downtown streets where you spend your weekends?
The stress that the ban will cause those who rely on cigarettes to cool down will no doubt trump the stress that it would cause non-smokers to consciously avoid stepping into a smoker/s face. Although UF won/t write tickets to smokers, the stigma the ban puts on smokers is unacceptable.
Because the majority of UF students don/t smoke, smokers are already going to be a little reticent to light up. And when they do, they probably won/t blow smoke in someone/s face. If someone can/t handle being exposed to smoke that has dissipated into open air, they probably shouldn/t go outside anyway.
UF isn/t a high school. The students, faculty and staff of UF are all (or at least the vast majority) able to obtain tobacco products legally. And those that do (and inevitably will, whether there is a "ban" on smoking) are already killing their health. They don/t need their dignity or their rights killed every time they step on campus.
