It is not uncommon to walk past a fume of smoke while leaving a building. To some, the smell is nauseating, while to others, it’s just a side effect to a bad habit. The smoke and smell have made many people on campus uncomfortable.
In the past, Augustana has tried to ban smoking, but as you can see, students, professors and faculty are still lighting up. Although I am not pro-smoking, I do not believe that Augustana should ban smoking on campus.
If smoking were to be banned, then there would have to be enforcement and set consequences for the accused. Public Safety would not be able to enforce this new rule due to their busy schedules, so who could be in charge of this ban?
This problem of enforcement and punishment have been a huge problem in the past attempts at banning smoking. If there is no sense of enforcement, then those who smoke will have no reason not to keep up their habits.
Rather than banning smoking, Augustana should be doing more in promoting healthier lifestyles. Banning smoking will help those who dislike the smell and smoke, but it will do nothing for those who actually smoke (beside making them move to a different location).
Banning will only solve one side of a problem. Since a ban on cigarettes would be a half-sided fix, it is not worth Augustana’s time to instate a new banning policy. Instead, Augustana should instate a policy to get people to quit smoking.
If Augustana created a support system for those who smoke and hope to quit, I feel many more problems on campus could be eliminated.
A support group could be created, or even a partnership with a current support group would greatly affect the health of many people on campus. If Augustana could somehow become involved with the quitting process, then a need for a ban would be less necessary.
Banning cigarettes or smoking on campus would do very little in preventing the discomfort for non-smokers. Rather than banning smoking, Augustana should instead step into a process of helping smokers quit. Banning has never done much in solving problems. Case in point: ever heard of the prohibition?