Column:
Secondhand smoke negatively affects students
Published Oct. 30, 2008
Last Friday, after I finished my classes for the week, I drove to my fiancé's to hang out for a while before dinner. And when I walked into his apartment and greeted him with a big hug, I expected in return a, "How was your day?" or "I'm so happy to see you!" Wrong! Instead I was greeted with, "You smell like an ashtray."
I don't smoke. I can honestly say that I've never touched a cigarette in my life. But every day I'm on MU's campus, I find myself walking behind someone whose cigarette is billowing smoke back into my face or standing at the bus stop next to someone who's puffing like a chimney, frantically trying to finish their smoke before the bus pulls up. And consequently, I come home at the end of the day reeking of a dirty habit which I don't even partake in.
On a personal level, I have nothing against smokers. My dad has been a smoker my entire life, so it's not as though cigarettes are some brand new evil in my world. And I recognize that we all have our vices. Some of us choose to drown our livers in alcohol, some of us choose to gobble up burgers dripping in saturated fat and some of us, myself included, choose to bake in a box of carcinogenic rays. The problem that I have with smokers is that when I make the unhealthy decision to step into a tanning bed, I don't pull you inside with me. And when you see someone scarfing down fast food, you don't pick up secondhand calories. But cigarette smoke, as everyone should be fully aware of, doesn't only put the smoker at a health risk. It puts everyone who is nearby at risk as well. That's what gets me upset.
When it comes to alcohol, MU is a dry campus, meaning that no alcohol can be consumed on campus regardless of age. I'm smart enough to realize this policy is quite often broken, but at least the rule is on the books. And currently, MU is working to shut down the tanning services offered at the Student Recreation Complex because of the health threats posed by ultraviolet rays in tanning beds. So why can't we entertain the idea of making MU a smoke-free campus?
One huge argument against having a smoke-free campus revolves around the lack of available data that studies the dangers of outdoor secondhand smoke. It's easy to think that outside, cigarette smoke is diffused enough to squelch any harmful effects. But studies on outdoor smoking show that standing or sitting near a smoker in an outdoor environment is comparable to being around a smoker in an enclosed area. And if the limited exposure to smokers that I get walking around campus can make my clothes smell, it's got to be getting to my lungs as well.
Columbia has taken steps in past years to drastically reduce smoking in public areas. According to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation, there are now at least 160 smoke-free campuses in the U.S. Obviously protection from secondhand cigarette smoke is a concern for many Americans.
But until MU implements a smoke-free campus policy, I guess I'll just be forced to provide my own protection against smokers on campus. So don't be surprised if you see me wearing a gas mask, spraying odor eliminator and chasing smokers around with an ultraviolet lamp.
