Opinion

‘I love the smell of cancer’

Why smoke when you can just breathe deeply outside?

By Kris Healey

Posted on March 27, 2003, at 12:00 a.m.

The University of Southern Maine caused quite a stir last spring when university officials suggested that their campus adopt a smoke-free policy. The university dreamed of a smoke-free environment where those craving a cigarette would be corralled into designated smoking areas, and non-smokers would be free to walk the campus without inhaling someone else’s carcinogens and toxins.

Here at the University of Maine, policy towards smoking is less strict. Much of the campus is smoke-free, including many dorms, administration buildings, classrooms and on-campus eateries. But where cigarettes have been banned indoors, a new problem has been created out of doors. Smokers, now unable to light up inside a building, have chosen to stand in the entryways of buildings to get their nicotine fix.

Huddled in a group to ward off the cold, groups of five or more smokers are often present at the entrances of major buildings like Memorial Union, Fogler Library, Little Hall and Donald P. Corbett Business Building. Non-smokers hoping to attend classes inside these buildings without having to inhale a cloud of smoke are left with two choices. One, walk through the center of this group holding their breath, or two, find another entrance to the building.

While smokers across campus may not feel as if they’re doing anything wrong, non-smokers like myself are tired of the hassle. Signs posted on doors around campus declare, “No smoking within 20 feet of building.” Is it possible that the smokers on campus can’t read? Is it possible that they’ve never noticed these signs? I wonder. Recently, I walked past two girls outside of the entrance of Stevens Hall who were smoking while leaning against the sign on the door. Clearly they noticed it; they just didn’t care.

As I write this I can picture smokers all across campus indignantly claiming that we non-smokers should deal with it. They are outside after all, so what’s the problem? Well, the problem is that smoking sometimes violates peoples’ rights. As much as smokers have a right to make the personal choice to smoke, I have the right to choose not to smoke. As such, I shouldn’t be forced to reap the side effects of their personal choices.

Smoking in front of the entranceway to a building affects not only those holding cigarettes, but also those who want to enter or exit the building, and those who may have rooms or offices above the entranceway. Considering the facts about the dangers of second-hand smoke, you can clearly see my frustration.

According to some estimates, as many as 50,000 Americans die each year from diseases brought on by inhaling second hand smoke, making passive smoking the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States. These fatalities are spread among diseases including various cancers, heart disease, heart attacks and brain tumors. Maybe it’s just me, but I was looking for an education in Stevens Hall, not a brain tumor.

To the smokers huddled in front of classrooms across campus right now: Have some decency, and don’t be so self-righteous about your right to smoke. Your right to smoke ends where my right to breathe and live a disease-free life begins. Step away from the building. Be conscious of the way your decisions may affect others lives.

And to the university officials in charge of policy making: A law isn’t a law until it’s enforced. People won’t stop smoking in front of buildings unless they have motivation to take their cigarettes elsewhere.

Kris Healey is a first-year graduate student in the historic archaeology program.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 27th, 2003, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.