Let’s just throw it out there, the smell of cigarette smoke is awful and is a nuisance when walking to class or just walking around on campus. In fact, smoking in general is a nasty habit.
Long Beach State is meant to be a 100 percent smoke, vapor and tobacco free environment, according to the Breathe Campaign which was implemented in 2013.
Despite having signs promoting a smoke-free campus, students and faculty ignore them and continue to smoke vapes and cigarettes with disregard to policies that are aimed at providing students and employees a safe working and learning environment.
Seeing people overlook the signs show they don’t care about any kind of school policy and have no concern for their fellow students passing by and inhaling the smoke.
There are fines for smoking in public places such as restaurants, bars, hotels, etc., and the campus needs to have a stronger crackdown when it comes to enforcing it’s smoking policies. They can better enforce this by giving out fines to people who are caught smoking, as well as academic holds if citations are not paid.
According to USA Today, studies show that tobacco-free campuses help students quit smoking. Many schools that adopted tobacco-free policies have even provided counselors for students who are trying to cope with their smoking habits.
Part of a university’s job is to provide quality education with a healthy environment to students. Allowing people to get away with smoking on campus after the ban does a disservice to students in ensuring their health and safety.
According to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC), smoking causes more deaths every year than HIV, alcohol use, illegal drug use, motor vehicle injuries and firearm related incidents combined.
LBSU should commit to its promise of a smoke-free campus and start ticketing those caught smoking on campus.
This would be beneficial to both students and staff who don’t smoke, as well as those caught smoking. It’s already hazardous enough for their health, and a ticket could act as a wake up call to quit their unhealthy habit.
It would also eliminate secondhand smoke, which is when another person inhales environmental smoke from someone smoking nearby.
Making a campus smoke-free is not just about making rules and policies but it is also about preserving the health and safety of students, staff and faculty.
Its time to add enforcement to people who break the law. Its not fair to others or to the damage it does to the environment. There’s nothing good about smoking from health, environmental, jobs and so on…..Its time for CSULB to take a lead in enforcing its smoking policy when people put themselves above others health and the environment.