By Mark Wayland
Opinions Editor
I do not like smoking. I do not enjoy the smell of cigarettes or their potentially deadly health effects. Unfortunately, cigarettes are legal in this society. It is a fact I have learned to accept. It is sad for me to watch people smoke, because I have to look at them and think to myself, “You’re paying these tobacco companies to hurt you,” which doesn’t seem very rational to me.
That aside, I understand that smoking cigarettes is something anyone over the age of 18 can do if they wish. Banning tobacco at FSU is a nice effort – I like that this college cares about the health of its students. It think it is very important because some people do not care about college students, or even students in general. However, my concern has to do with the enforcement of this ban. How will the college enforce this policy? It is not as though anyone can arrest a student for smoking a cigarette and actually expect them to go to jail – it would be embarrassing to attempt to do so.
If FSU can find a way to enforce this policy, I could have a bit of hope it might actually work. For now, though, it is just something students are supposed to follow. If it cannot be enforced, I do not think the policy will last and this will have been a nice, but unsuccessful effort to help students kick their smoking habits.