Policy saves lives
By Jodi Guglielmi
Recently, there have been complaints about the tobacco-free-campus policy having harmful impacts for the personal safety of students who smoke cigarettes. Those arguing against the ban claim that preventing students from smoking on campus forces them to venture off campus where they are vulnerable to danger.
When High Point University first announced that they were going to become tobacco-free in 2009, they offered smoking cessation classes to help those using tobacco. As for students who enrolled at HPU after the policy was put in place, they knew, or should have known, that this policy existed before committing.
“One of the reasons I decided to attend High Point University over other schools was because this campus is smoke free. That was really important in my decision making process,” said freshman Alicia Dodrill.
Because of the policy, HPU is a cleaner campus. Jay Olson, a sophomore at Florida State University, which is not a tobacco-free campus, visited a friend at HPU recently and said, “I didn’t realize how dirty [Florida State] was until I visited High Point. When I went back [to Florida State], all I could see were cigarette butts everywhere on the ground and smoke in the air—it’s really gross. High Point was literally, and figuratively speaking, a breath of fresh air.”
The idea of a designated smoking spot on campus has been mentioned as a solution to potential dangers of leaving campus grounds to smoke. However, this idea is not only unnecessary, but would veto the entire purpose of the tobacco-free policy.
A smoking area, for ventilation purposes, would have to be located outside. One could assume that there would be more than one person smoking at a time, thus exposing people in passing to extreme levels of second-hand smoke. It could also waft throughout the rest of campus.
It is a proven and well-known fact that second-hand smoke is just as dangerous as first-hand smoke. Exposing passerbys to this would be just as unhealthy than if they had a cigarette in their mouths themselves.
The purpose of campus security is to help keep us safe while we are on campus. They guard every entrance to the school to make sure they know who is entering. One guard house sits at the Lexington Avenue entrance of campus, down the hill from the University Center. Outside the fence and less than 100 yards away is a bench, which is a popular spot for smokers to go and enjoy their cigarettes.
“I don’t think I’ve ever driven through that entrance without seeing at least one person there smoking,” said freshman Laura Sukys.
Because the bench is within eyesight of the on-duty guard, it is a perfectly safe place to smoke. If danger were to arise, a guard would be immediately present to take action.
High Point University works daily to ensure that their students are both safe and happy. If having a tobacco-free campus was a serious threat to students, the policy would have never been put into place.