Spring Break
Smoker discrimination is ridiculous
Freesia Singngam
Issue date: 1/23/09 Section: Commentary
First, they got hit with an additional tax. Then, they were shunned when the government placed a ban inside all public buildings. Now, some of them are suffering a blow on the university level.
Smokers at Mitchell College in New London received some bad news when they returned to school after winter break: smoking has been banned on their main campus, and their administration hopes to make the entire college smoke-free in two years.
The smoking ban has been in place since 2003, The (New London) Day reported, but it is only now beginning to be enforced. For now, students can smoke at least 50 feet away from their dorm buildings, the Day reported. While Mitchell College is a private institution and has the power to enforce such restrictions, the fact remains that smoking is legal, and smokers have felt the assault from new restrictions for several years now.
Smoking has become increasingly taboo in our society, and the discrimination against it keeps getting worse with more bans. Smokers' problems didn't stop when higher taxes were placed on cigarettes to discourage smoking and raise revenue, and they don't end with smoking bans in public buildings and places where smoking had become the norm, like restaurants and bars. Smokers often find themselves hiding their cigarettes from friends and family, not taking a puff when someone walks by and airing out their cars in the cold so they don't smell like smoke when they go somewhere.
Everyone knows the dangerous health effects of smoking, and it makes sense to ban smoking inside buildings, where non-smokers can be affected by second-hand smoke. However, when it comes down to it, it's the smoker's decision to smoke, and if they are willing to go outside to do it, even in frigid temperatures, they should have the right to.
Cigarettes are legal, and anyone over 18 can buy them. Especially on college campuses, the majority of college students and most likely all college faculty members are of age to buy cigarettes. The fact is, smokers are still people just like everyone else, and banning them from too many places, especially when those places are outdoors and away from building entrances, just feels wrong.
Smokers at Mitchell College in New London received some bad news when they returned to school after winter break: smoking has been banned on their main campus, and their administration hopes to make the entire college smoke-free in two years.
The smoking ban has been in place since 2003, The (New London) Day reported, but it is only now beginning to be enforced. For now, students can smoke at least 50 feet away from their dorm buildings, the Day reported. While Mitchell College is a private institution and has the power to enforce such restrictions, the fact remains that smoking is legal, and smokers have felt the assault from new restrictions for several years now.
Smoking has become increasingly taboo in our society, and the discrimination against it keeps getting worse with more bans. Smokers' problems didn't stop when higher taxes were placed on cigarettes to discourage smoking and raise revenue, and they don't end with smoking bans in public buildings and places where smoking had become the norm, like restaurants and bars. Smokers often find themselves hiding their cigarettes from friends and family, not taking a puff when someone walks by and airing out their cars in the cold so they don't smell like smoke when they go somewhere.
Everyone knows the dangerous health effects of smoking, and it makes sense to ban smoking inside buildings, where non-smokers can be affected by second-hand smoke. However, when it comes down to it, it's the smoker's decision to smoke, and if they are willing to go outside to do it, even in frigid temperatures, they should have the right to.
Cigarettes are legal, and anyone over 18 can buy them. Especially on college campuses, the majority of college students and most likely all college faculty members are of age to buy cigarettes. The fact is, smokers are still people just like everyone else, and banning them from too many places, especially when those places are outdoors and away from building entrances, just feels wrong.
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 8
Pete
posted 1/24/09 @ 12:11 AM EST
At least some smokers are not considerate and break the rules that are now in effect. They do block doorways and they do smoke indoors when nobody is watching or policing the rules. (Continued…)
Another College Kid
posted 1/24/09 @ 2:09 AM EST
(note, I don't attend Mitchell, but my college is doing something similar)
I honestly feel that asking smokers to walk 50+ feet from the door is fair and to avoid smoking in any common area where students tend to congregate. (Continued…)
CarolT
posted 1/24/09 @ 8:59 AM EST
All of this is happening because cowards let the health fascist charlatans get away with spewing their lies!
More than 50 studies show that human papillomaviruses cause over ten times more lung cancers than they pretend are caused by secondhand smoke. (Continued…)
GreenSmoker
GreenSmoker
posted 1/25/09 @ 4:46 AM EST
Smokers are being boxed in with more and more laws. I just switched over to an electronic cigarette 3 months ago. I can smoke it anywhere with no odor and it gives me my nicotine in a water vapor that feels and looks like smoke. (Continued…)
Shirley McKay
posted 4/01/09 @ 1:57 AM EST
New Tax on Cigarettes unfair to smokers.
Open Letter to our Government.
Why may I ask, are you taking aim only at the smokers for your tax increase? There are other products that cause cancer. (Continued…)
Hjarne
posted 5/07/09 @ 7:41 AM EST
I would rethink alot of the smoking laws arround now.
I do not think that a law againt is the way out. Smoking might kill alot of secondhand smokers, yes, but as for now, no one can be sertain that the second hand smoking really are the devil in this. (Continued…)
Mathew
posted 6/01/09 @ 6:20 PM EST
Smokers are the most group that is most discriminated against in America right now and we have all the propaganda and lies to blame for this.
Banning smoking indoors is not lawful. (Continued…)
darryl
posted 7/10/09 @ 3:32 AM EST
Plastic is a destroyer of the planet over ciggerettes. Tax should be applied to bottled water as soon as possible! It will be next but money will make it all go away right. (Continued…)
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