Column:

Campus smoking ban could only help

By Jacob Houska

Published Oct. 30, 2008

Right outside Strickland Hall, some poor little old man, probably a professor of some kind, is choking on cigarette smoke. This is not just a casual cough to be rude to the smokers. This dude is hands-on-knees, cocking his head back and blowing mini-hurricanes out of his lungs.

It's not his fault, nor is it his choice, but he is paying the price for walking down the street behind the wrong group of students. They either don't care or don't notice. My money is on both.

I bet this old man is a supporter of a possible campus-wide smoking ban. Why shouldn't he be?

Rumors of this ban stemmed from a similar prohibition on a smaller scale at Pershing Commons. It was the start, nicotine enthusiasts feared, of a large-scale attack on those who prefer to suck cancer sticks in a public setting.

But on the other hand, it's a ray of hope for the majority who don't feel the need to smoke cigarettes between classes, disregarding the health of every stranger they come across. Which, if you truly look at it objectively, is the right way to go about it. It's OK to do the right thing if it's only at the expense of those who are causing the problem.

Imagine if that really happened. A lot of people would be irate, but none of them would have a real reason. They would have blind rage created by taking away someone's unhealthy addiction, but they would lack any logic for being angry.

Smoking a cigarette alone in an airtight room is stupid enough in itself, but it's the only way to do it without affecting anyone else. Smoking in the middle of a crowd in one of the most public places on the planet, a major university campus, is equally senseless and even more selfish. Just ask the old man I saw. He'll tell you.

If you agree with a single word I've said about this issue, you will be pleased to know there is hope. Apparently MU has a group called The MU Smoking Policy Task Force, and they moderated a forum in Jesse Hall where they discussed a possible campus-wide smoking ban. And apparently MU has another group called Peers Against Secondhand Smoke that obviously is working in favor of making the ban a reality.

Legally, the university has 100 percent control over whether smoking is allowed on campus, and it would be nice to see MU take a moral stand on the issue. The only thing holding the university back from doing the right thing is the pressure created by those who are addicted and would throw a fit. There is truly not a single good reason why smoking should be legal in major public places where others are affected. It's a touchy subject for most, because everyone knows someone who smokes, but whether it is touchy or not, the right thing should be done, especially in a situation where the right thing is so obvious.

Call it liberal, call it taking away freedom or call it a violation of your rights, the bottom line here is smoking is terrible for your health, and if you're smart enough not to smoke, you shouldn't have to smoke everyone else's cigarettes while you walk to class.

If campus really did become smoke-free, many people would just ignore the law in its entirety. But any results would be a positive. We have nothing to lose in this battle.