Every single day, my walk to class has become a life-or-death adventure. Inevitably, I end up walking behind someone smoking a cigarette. There's nothing more distasteful than walking out of a building and experiencing clouds of smoke slap your face. Cosumnes River College's smoking policy forbids smoking within 30 feet of any building structure.
However, we all know that this policy is violated and it's not enough to protect non-smokers.
As much as I believe in the rights of American citizens, I believe more in the protection of the innocent. I understand that smokers have right to smoke.
However, non-smokers have the right to breathe in clean air. I support CRC's health and facilities committee's decision to ban smoking on campus. CRC has always wanted to be a smoke-free campus since the 1980s.
But somehow the resolution never got approved because it never got through to the college president, college nurse and representative of the health and faculties committee Michelle Barkley said.
"Efforts have been made, but it gets stopped somewhere along the road," Barkley said. "We need strong student voices.
This is a school campus, a shared public space. Therefore, it should be a safe environment for all students.
I'll try not to delve into the advocacy of how smoking is dangerous for your health because I'm sure that smokers already know that. However, I'll say that smoking is detrimental to people suffering from second hand smoke and those with asthma on campus who have to breathe in smoke.
If smokers want to fill their lungs with toxicity, they should do it in their own privacy. The rest of us would like to live 10-15 years longer. There are students who choose not to smoke. Their decision should be accommodated.
Colleges in California such as San Jose City College and Santa Monica College are already smoke-free.
It wouldn't hurt to make CRC more of a healthy campus. "We shouldn't be anti-smokers," Barkley said. "But rather pro-health."
Be the first to comment on this article!