When subjected to secondhand smoke, non-smokersâ?? personal choice is taken away.

The debate on where people are allowed to smoke on campus is heating up right as the weather starts to freeze. Due to the indoor smoking ban placed into effect last April, this is the first winter where smoking is no longer permitted anywhere inside campus buildings.

As a result, people who smoke have become increasingly agitated at being forced outside to puff a cigarette.

Many smokers feel shunned and punished by the campus community each time they must step outside to smoke. Smokers frequently defend their perceived right to smoke inside public places by playing the “personal choice” card and claiming they have every right, legally and personally, to choose to smoke.

I completely agree with smokers on this point. However, smokers mistakenly view this as a one-sided argument. Non-smokers have also made a personal choice to refrain from cigarette smoking and its associated health consequences.

Last summer, the Surgeon General released a report titled “Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke.” This important document states that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke and that even minimal exposure has immediate negative health effects.

This report also confirms that ventilation systems have been proven ineffective at eliminating tobacco smoke from smoking sections of buildings. This means the health of all students is negatively impacted by allowing smoking inside campus buildings.

When subjected to secondhand smoke, non-smokers“ personal choice is taken away.

Smoke-free environments are a new reality as news and research continue to illustrate the deadly effects of environmental tobacco smoke.

Gov. Jim Doyle“s proposed state-wide smoking ban is on the fast track to ensuring that all public places in Wisconsin are safe from the dangers of involuntary smoke exposure.

My advice to students who smoke? Don“t take it personally.

Smoking doesn“t make you a “bad person.” The campus smoking ban isn“t an attack on you as a person; it“s an attempt to protect others from the negative health consequences of your personal choice.

For those smokers looking to come in from the cold, Norris provides free tobacco cessation counseling services and offers smoking cessation aides at a reduced cost.

> Comments