Colleges tell smokers, 'You're not welcome here'

[slimvictor]

This summer, a group of University of Kentucky students and staff has been patrolling campus grounds -- scouting out any student, employee or visitor lighting a cigarette.

Unlike hall monitors who cite students for bad behavior, the Tobacco-free Take Action! volunteers approach smokers, respectfully ask them to dispose of the cigarette and provide information about quit-smoking resources available on campus.

The University of Kentucky is one of more than 500 college campuses across the country that have enacted 100% smoke-free or tobacco-free policies as of July 1. Although policy enforcement varies from school to school, most prohibit smoking on all campus grounds, including athletic stadiums, restaurants and parking lots.

cont at
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/08/31/smokefree.college.campus/

 

[Splinterguitar69]

How do they expect performance out of students going through nicotine withdrawl?

And why dont they just designate a smoking area with quitting fliers there?

Pushing your opinion on an addict about his/her habit is counter productive. Dumbasses.

 

[villian]

If you don't like it go to school somewhere else?

Not allowing smoking on campus is not so much "pushing your opinion on an addict" as much it is saying "don't do it here."

 

[Tiesto]

I'd tell them to fuck right off. I have a right to smoke. So I will.

I wonder how many of those college students go out and binge drink? I wonder how they'd feel if I came up to them during frosh week and said "Excuse me, you know alcohol damages your liver? Please pour that out, thank you."

L O L

 

[LogicSoDeveloped]

^ for real, I bet the local police love fining people for DUI's and public intoxications but you can't make money from someone smoking a cigarette. I would consider that the least profitable drug to prosecute as besides banning it and fining people that do, its not a serious intoxicant like alcohol and its not illegal like cannabis, among other drugs.

I mean, its a damn cigarette. Big deal. I've found that being told to quit just makes me want to light another one. People that want to smoke aren't going to suddenly quit because some asshole hands them a flier saying you can get help quitting.

I'm not saying cigs are a good thing, rather, there are much worse things to worry about.

 

[villian]

I mean, its a damn cigarette. Big deal.

smoking kills 419,000 people every year. it is kind of a big deal.

no one is asking you to quit smoking, schools just don't want you smoking on their property.

 

[Thorns Have Roses]

Contributes to the deaths of 419k a year, yes. Saying it outright killed them gives way to all this victimization talk that I don't appreciate around any kind of drug use. And how exactly was this figure reached (I've always been a bit curious)?

 

[psychomimetic]

Fuck that noise, you should at least be allowed to smoke outside.

I'd be annoyed as fuck if people started coming up to me telling about quitting every time I smoke a cigarette, partly because I'm not addicted to them and partly because it's none of their damn business and I like to enjoy my smokes.

And yeah, cigarettes kill a lot of people. But I think if someone wants to kill themselves they should be allowed to. It's none of my business that other people chain smoke, just like it's none of my business that other people are alcoholics or shoot meth.

 

[villian]

Secondhand smoke causes close to 50,000 deaths per year, and side effects may include lung cancer, respiratory infections and asthma, according to the American Lung Association's website. Cigarette butts account for 75% of the litter found on New York City beaches, according to a news release from Bloomberg's office.

source @ http://articles.cnn.com/2011-05-23/...beaches-smoking-ban-secondhand-smoke?_s=PM:US

Smoking isn't a habit that only effects the smoker.

Contributes to the deaths of 419k a year, yes. Saying it outright killed them gives way to all this victimization talk that I don't appreciate around any kind of drug use. And how exactly was this figure reached (I've always been a bit curious)?

I don't know how they reached the number, but I got it from the American Cancer Society. The CDC has some additional information @ http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/AAG/osh.htm

 

[LogicSoDeveloped]

I'm not really sure that I agree with secondhand smoke doing that, and the whole thing about butts-that is due to people tossing them, not the actual act of smoking. I personally hold mine unitl I reach an ashtray.

Define secondhand smoke-if I'm in a smoking area and someone is 50 feet away, are they getting secondhand smoke? How about 100 feet? I mean, what constitutes them being damaged by it cause as far as I'm concerned, wouldn't it have to be affecting their lungs as in being inhaled to a degree?

There are more people in prison for Marijuana crimes than that, even if that number is true. I never said smoking was a good thing, I said that there are bigger issues in the world like unemployment, violent crime such as the 16 murders in a 24 hour period in Detroit recently, the national debt, the bullshit wars overseas, I could go on and on. I think that people that have an issue with smoking and make a big deal of it should worry about more important things.

How about people improperly disposing of other trash? Each butt could be considered a piece of trash but which takes up more space-a cigarette butt or a mcdonalds cup? Or any number of things for that matter.

I just don't like when people flip out about smoking. At least now they're not wrongly encouraging people to smoke, telling them its healthy.

I currently smoke heavily as I used cannabis to quit and did so successfully for about 6 months. I smoked a few here and there until I got busted. I can no longer smoke MJ so I switched back to cigs. Not the best decision but everyone has a vice.

 

[villian]

Secondhand smoke exposure causes serious disease and death, including heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults and sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more frequent and severe asthma attacks in children. Each year, primarily because of exposure to secondhand smoke, an estimated 3,000 nonsmoking Americans die of lung cancer, more than 46,000 die of heart disease, and about 150,000–300,000 children younger than 18 months have lower respiratory tract infections.

You don't have to agree with it, but the numbers are the numbers unless you are suggesting the CDC is just making shit up.

Do you not believe a college should have the right enforce smoking rules on it's own campus?

If you came in my house and I asked you not to smoke would you tell me to fuck off or respect the rules I set for my house?

 

[RobotRipping]

school is stressful; i've seen many people start smoking cigs during exams just to deal with it. And with all the drinking, a smoke is just perfect lol.

 

[LogicSoDeveloped]

@villain

Do I pay you to enter your house? Do I spend money on eating at your cafeteria or staying in your dorms? Do I employ you among other people by needing an education?

Smokers or not, we're still people. We still deserve a say. We pay equal tuition and do essentially everything a regular students does...and smoke.

Smoking outdoors on a college campus and smoking inside someones house are two totally different things. Respecting rules and being pushed around are two totally different things. I'm sure the CDC also says stuff about smoking cannabis causing cancer...

I don't have a problem not smoking indoors-in fact, I detest smoking indoors. But outdoors, with an ash tray to dispose of trash, I don't see the issue, I really don't. Especially if there are designated smoking areas that can easily be avoided by nonsmokers.

 

[!_MDMA_!]

i have to say numbers lie. have you ever taken a statistics course in school? data can be presented in misleading but truthful ways. those 3000 who die from lung cancer could be meth, heroin, crack, weed smokers. i dont believe the researchers picked several hundred non smokers to observe and follow em with viseo cameras observing their every action. more like people came in filled out a survey and took a couple medical tests.


and if im not mistaken drinking causes heart disease. i doubt they have ways to detect what exactly and how severly something damaged the heart. if im wrong correct me but heres wat i imagine an interview to go like

"do u smoke""no"
"do u live with a smoker" "yes" (how much he smokes how often how close, in how ventilated area? i doubt these are asked among other factors or answered 100% truthfully)
"how often do you drink" "oh u kno a couple times a month" (try every weekend and a glass of wine/beer or 2 a night)

the cdc isnt gonna put out information that is gonna say smoking is cool with us cuz smoking does cause cancer n is damgerous. which means they pick and chose the best data gathered (prob by one of their labs) to convince people.

quick ex of misleadingly presented data. 5 girls scored on /10 sat test 7,7,7,10,7. boys scored 3,5,4,8,9
i can say boys recieved the 2/3 of top scores. however that doesnt mean boys are more likely to score higher than girls

 

[Bagseed]

i'm also sceptical about the data about secondhand smoking - deaths. i'd imagine walking down a highly-frequented street will be worse due to the emissions than standing next to somebody smoking a cig for 5min.

i respect non-smoking laws here in my country but i'm glad, they're not as ridiculous as in the US oO

 

[cj]

@villain

Do I pay you to enter your house? Do I spend money on eating at your cafeteria or staying in your dorms? Do I employ you among other people by needing an education?

Smokers or not, we're still people. We still deserve a say. We pay equal tuition and do essentially everything a regular students does...and smoke.

Smoking outdoors on a college campus and smoking inside someones house are two totally different things. Respecting rules and being pushed around are two totally different things. I'm sure the CDC also says stuff about smoking cannabis causing cancer...

I don't have a problem not smoking indoors-in fact, I detest smoking indoors. But outdoors, with an ash tray to dispose of trash, I don't see the issue, I really don't. Especially if there are designated smoking areas that can easily be avoided by nonsmokers.

This. Im so sick of universitys acting like its a goddamn privelege to be there college students spend alot of money every semester.

 

[Asyd420]

if they asked me to die out my cig i would be like ok after i'm done

 

[Apostacious]

Whether you pay or not, it doesn't matter. Just because you pay tuition to attend classes at a university does not warrant you the right to disobey campus guidelines upon campus property. If the consensus of faculty, administration and student body is telling you to gtfo and keep your public health hazard habits away from the setting of a health-conscious university setting, then you gtfo of the way and follow protocol if you wish to attend said university.

I stupidly smoked for 10 years, and was extremely self-conscious of how my smoking was effecting others. If I noticed that I was near a heavy traffic area (outside the door of a campus building for instance), and people would give me dirty looks, or would start having sneezing/coughing fits due to asthma/allergies, I would move right away. I did that because I respect other peoples' needs and desires just as much, if not more so than my own. Just keep in mind that there are some people on campus that are quite sensitive to the effects of second-hand smoke, and that you are basically creating a health hazard by keeping your cigarette in close proximity to them.

Lets face it, there is nothing beneficial about the habitual use of tobacco, period (unless you work for a tobacco company). It is an extremely addictive habit, that slowly, but surely destroys the health and finances of the user. I gained absolutely nothing from my 10 years of smoking, aside from reduced lung capacity, poor circulation in my hands and feet, and over $10,000 in lost finances. Yet, I deserved all of those ailments, because my past habitual use of tobacco was a conscious choice I made when I was 16. Now, imagine all of the above ailments, aside from the latter one, being pushed on another person without their consent. That is completely unacceptable, correct? That is what happens to non-smokers in time when people smoke obsessively near high-traffic pedestrian areas, such as on a university's campus.

For those of you who are outraged by a smoking ban on a university's campus: just smoke in your car, or buy nicotine gum/patches if you need to. You are on private property, and no matter how much you pay in tuition, that property is not your property. So, please do not buy into the rhetoric that tobacco companies pay lawyers and pro-smoker activists to spout out (especially in the state of Kentucky, which is the tobacco capital of the world). Perhaps you could benefit by having your destructive habit become a greater inconvenience than it normally would be, before the truly nasty health problems occur. Seeing my grandmother and grandfather both die from emphysema and lung cancer was horrific. That is one image that has helped me quit smoking. Yet, if my habit was more of a nuisance than anything else when I started smoking, then I probably would have healthier lungs and capillaries.

 

[Cat-N-Da-Hat]

I'm glad they're cracking down on real issues. 8)

 

[Apostacious]

^Believe it or not, reducing the power of the tobacco lobby is a REAL ISSUE in the context of drug prohibition in the United States. Guess who lobbied for the war on drugs and to have certain drugs protected from the scheduling system? Alcohol and tobacco companies. They also persistently fund attacks on medical marijuana. If marijuana were widely and legally available, how long do you think that tobacco-only companies would last?