Oswego State is a smoke-free campus, joining other institutions across the country in being tobacco free. At surface value, this is a wonderful advancement to keep fresh air up and pollution down. The problem is this rule is almost impossible to regulate. Students and staff alike find spots behind buildings and in small alcoves to take a puff, while some students simply do it in the open while walking to class. Seeing it so often, it is difficult to see how or when the rule is enforced, particularly when many people are apathetic about seeing it.

Between vaping, cigarettes and marijuana, it seems impossible to avoid. As adults, the choice should be open to indulge in their own vices, but that changes when those habits negatively affect the people around them. Designated spots to smoke may help contain the issue, but the goal should be keeping campus as smoke free as possible.

Most everyone knows the side effects of cigarettes. The threat of cancer and respiratory problems has been well ingrained by education institutions. However, the new fad of vaping is less known about, and the research for both is not well known. It is still important to maintain the rules for vaping and smoking across the board. The temptation is higher when people feel they can simply step out of the building and smoke without repercussion. Even those without addiction that are simply falling into the vape trend use them at will and become more conspicuous the more they see other people smoking. Education about vaping is a country-wide problem. Increasing what we know about the chemicals and process involved can help reduce the numbers of people doing it or help us decide if it is a harmless pastime.

If there were more ways for students and staff to be taught how to address this problem, perhaps it could at least be reduced. Non-smokers should not have to breathe in secondhand smoke, and smokers also should not breathe it in anymore. Just like polluting, it is a small but significant act that compounds, increasing as more people do it. All of this adds up to making the Oswego State campus less pleasant for everyone.

Adding proper containers to dispose of cigarettes could reduce pollution on campus, and placing them the proper distance from buildings would help people know where it is appropriate to smoke. Keeping it properly separated yet subtle by having the containers would reduce the shame associated with going to that area. If it is too in the open, people would still feel the need to find their own spots to smoke.

The smoking policy on campus is definitely moving in the right direction, but it is impossible to expect complete enforcement of the rules. It does not accommodate people that are very addicted to smoking, and through education and a bit of compromise, that could be remedied.

Image by Maria Pericozzi | The Oswegonian