Smokers on campus are in an uproar at the thought that Bakersfield College could soon be a smoke-free campus.
I have observed the large number of individuals who choose to shorten their lives, blacken their lungs, send daily invitations to deadly diseases such as cancer and emphysema, and reek of foul cigarette odor.
These individuals will argue that, “This is America, and we have the right to smoke wherever we choose!” However, smokers’ rights do not extend over to my lungs.
Pollution is already a large enough problem. Who gave smokers the “right” to contaminate our air even more? Why should non-smoking students and faculty unwillingly have to be exposed to smokers’ disgusting habit? We shouldn’t!
I should have the right to breathe clean air as I walk across campus, and I most certainly should not have to see or step on nasty cigarette butts left behind by careless smokers who are too lazy to find a trashcan.
We have a beautiful campus, and we should take pride in it. Quite frankly, the ashtrays outside of our buildings are a real eyesore. Smokers will whine that the buildings are already smoke-free, and it shouldn’t be a big deal to smoke outside on campus.
The big deal is that all other schools in Bakersfield, excluding colleges and the university, prohibit smoking on school grounds regardless of whether you are an adult, a parent picking up your child or an employee. Smoking is not allowed. Bakersfield College is an institution of higher learning that deserves the same respect.
Granted, elementary, junior high and high schools are public schools that students by law have to attend. To attend college is a choice that adults make, and therefore college smokers feel that they are entitled to smoke at school, but what kind of example are we setting by allowing this to happen? We are simply telling the youth in our community to do as we say, not as we do. We are showing our children that you only have to take pride in your school, and be respectful to others until you are an adult, and then you can behave as you choose.
I’m all for people exercising their free- choice rights, but there is a real problem when those free choices put others in danger. According to the Times of London, “a seven- year, 10-country study shows exposure to passive smoke increases the risk of respiratory disease by thirty percent and lung cancer by thirty-four percent,” posted in a Medline Plus article.
If BC were to become a smoke-free environment, there would still be a plus side for smokers in that they wouldn’t smoke any cigarettes during their time at school, meaning that they would smoke less per day, therefore having to buy cigarettes less often.
As far back as the 1960s, when smoking was permitted on aircrafts research showed that non-smoking flight attendants developed lung cancer from exposure to secondhand smoke on the job. The same is true for restaurant waitresses and employees. The saddest part is that California is one of the few states that have taken action on the issue, prohibiting smoking in all public and government buildings. Now it is time for Bakersfield College to take control as well.