Posted on September 1 at 11:02 a.m.Suggest removal

I personally commend this article and the author at exposing the cigarette issues we face here on campus.

In reality, how are we going to avoid cigarette's smoke? Considering how packed the South Oval is in between classes throughout the day, by the time we see someone light up a cigarette, they have already blown their smoke into the masses. And according to various statistics, once you smell the smoke, the damage is done. Besides, there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Even though you may be outside, it does not mean that it is any less dangerous or harmful.

Besides, many people do not understand what is inside of a cigarette when they start. There is more than just tobacco and nicotine in it, but in fact have thousands of deadly chemicals, such as Formaldehyde, used in preservation of bodies, Ammonia, used in fertilizer, and Arsenic, a deadly poison, to name just a few. Cigarettes, for being so small, are still a weapon of mass destruction.

Agreeing with the author, I believe a smoking ban on campus would be good. It would not only promote healthier habits, but it would also make the campus more appeasing. It would also discourage many new people from starting a deadly habit with only dire consequences as a result. No matter how you look at a statistic, that was still a person's life. That person was someone's father, mother, brother, sister, grandparent, etc. And I am not the only one with the author either. From a referendum taken last year, 78% of students wanted some sort of smoking ban on campus, with the majority for a smoking ban.

While I understand that it is a smoker's personal choice whether to smoke, it is also mine and everyone else's right to not have to tolerate the only product, when used as intended, causes death to the user. Me personally, I don't want to end up as a statistic.

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Posted on April 15 at 11:41 a.m.Suggest removal

Smoking, contrary to popular belief, does affect other people on campus, not only the smoker.

Many people walking to class, students and faculty, have probably walked through a smoke cloud made by a cigarette. What isn't known, however, is how deadly the secondhand smoke really is. Whether you are inside or outside, there is no safe level of expose to secondhand smoke (US Surgeon General Richard Carmona, 2006.) In other words, if you can smell it, then you are being affected by it, no matter the distance. Many people also do not realize what chemicals they are breathing in. Formaldehyde, which is used in embaling fluids, benzene, which is used in gasoline, and vinyl chloride, used in pvc pipes, are just a few of the many deadly chemicals that are in both the cigarette and secondhand smoke. In addition, the health risks involved include increased risk for heart attack, reduced heart rate, and blood platelets to become sticker among the other risks. And thats just by being exposed by a short time!

Not only does the secondhand smoke affect people, but the litter is a problem as well. There are cigarette butts everywhere on campus, which not only makes the campus dirty and unclean. The butts are not biodegradeable, which hinder our effects on campus to go green. In addition, the cigarette butts could potentially start fires, which is currently a problem in Oklahoma. The animals that are on campus are affected as well. I have already seen many squirrels and birds this semester pick up and eat the cigarette butts, thinking it is food, when in reality it is not and will only cause the animal to get sick later on. Not only does it make the campus dirty and the animals and environment unsafe, but it also makes us contributing factors to the world count of cigarette butts. There are so many cigarette butts that you could go to the Earth and the Moon, twice! That's a lot of litter!

And that's just a few. There are plenty more facts and reasons that say why we need a smoking ban on campus. People who smoke interfere with other people's freedoms because it affects their choice to not smoke through secondhand smoke and cigarette litter, resulting in health risks and endangering the environment. To say that it is a preposterous idea to ban smoking because it doesnt or "rarely" affects other people is shocking and ridiculous.

Joshua Trope

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