I have a very ambivalent relationship with smoking — I love it and hate it at the same time.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is about to enforce a smoking ban in the Union. After this initial ban, smokers will be required to be at least 30 feet from any campus building while smoking, and then after that they plan on making the entire campus smoke-free.

As I stood outside with all of my smoking buddies before class, we all discussed the ban and how much it bothered us. While we can understand banning smoking from inside campus buildings makes sense, banning it outside is ridiculous. We’re outside!

If the campus has a problem with smokers in front of buildings, designate smoke-free entrances. However, UWM may not be the only place in Milwaukee going smoke-free.

The idea of Milwaukee itself going smoke-free is no longer an idea, it’s in legislation right now. Many other cities have gone smoke-free and I really don’t think it is that far off for our fabulous city.

With the looming threat of losing my ability to smoke in bars and restaurants, I thought I would be more upset.

I’m a smoker. I love my cigarettes; they are my favorite little 10-minute friends. But as I got home from the bar last night, I had to douse my clothing in Febreeze and my hair smelled like an ashtray, and I thought that maybe a smoke-free Milwaukee wouldn’t be that bad.

I’ve been telling myself I need to quit for years now, and if I can’t smoke in a bar or restaurant it might even make it easier for me to do so.

Every winter, as I bundle up and risk frostbite simply to have a cigarette, I think I need to quit. Some mornings, after long nights out and many, many cigarettes, my throat hurts and I feel as if at any moment I could cough up a lung. It’s disgusting. But it’s also become habit.

I have a very ambivalent relationship with smoking — I love it and hate it at the same time.

The Milwaukee Common Council has put decision making on hold. This is because, much like myself, many people seem to be on the fence with this issue. While it could take years for such a ban to be imposed in Milwaukee, a ban is most likely inevitable.

What I am having a hard time understanding though is: why now? I do not see why a smoking ban is so pertinent in the minds of Milwaukee politicians at this point in time.

Milwaukee has much bigger things to worry about. Instead of focusing on a person’s right to smoke, we should be thinking about the incredibly high crime rate and other pressing issues for the city. The to-smoke-or-not-to-smoke dilemma has been going on for years and is most likely going to continue to do so.

Our city should be concerned with other things right now that take higher precedence.

Also, the amount of money that is going to be required for the ban is high, and that money isn’t needed in enforcing a smoking ban, but in our police department.

No one wants to see Milwaukee featured in high-profile publications for our high crime rate again. Let’s make our streets safe, and then let’s work on our lungs.

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