Smoker –
The smoking band that the school is currently trying to put into action is inconvenient for smokers. There is no way to defend that smoking is healthy, however, the reality is that a lot of PSU students are addicted to cigarettes. Many people who smoke already feel deviant from the norm. Many have contemplated quitting, even tried to quit, but cigarettes are a habit that is just too hard to kick. PSU smokers are generally polite about their bad habit, by standing off to the side of the buildings on campus, by putting their butts into the ashtray, and attempting to stay away from nonsmokers. While there are undoubtedly a small handful of smokers who are not as respectful, the majority of the smokers should not be punished for their inconsiderate actions.
This is America, and we have the freedom to choose. Some people chose to start smoking and thus become addicted, however, people shouldn’t be punished for the mistakes they made. The general consensus amongst PSU smokers is that the smoking ban is an infringement on their freedoms as citizens of the United States. It makes life harder. If you move people 30 feet away from the building to smoke, people will still walk by and smell the cigarette smoke. Students will still come into buildings smelling like tobacco. With this ban in effect they will be forced to be out in the cold for even longer. Having to smoke outside of buildings is fair enough, as it gives nonsmokers a place to stay smoke free, and people still have the option of smoking. However, since smokers are already forced into the cold, why make it worse? People shouldn’t be shunned for smoking, because it’s legal. A smoking ban won’t solve anything. Smokers need to be respectful of nonsmokers, and nonsmokers that don’t want to be around cigarette smoke need to avoid it.
Non-Smoker –
As a non-smoker, I appreciate the right that I have to be able to breathe clean air. This presents a dilemma to myself, for I also respect the right that smokers have to be able to pollute the air they smoke in. Can a happy medium be reached?
Smoking is a choice that individuals make, and because they can make the choice to engage in that habit I can stand up and make my choice not to be around it. However, every single time I walk out of a building on campus and am surrounded by smoke, they are taking away my right to breathe clean air. No one forces them to smoke; one is not genetically predispositioned to be a smoker. Therefore non-smokers should not be forced to breathe this deadly air.
It really is a double-edged sword and a compromise is not going to come easily. Discriminating against smokers rightfully makes them feel upset, and vice versa. Each one has as much right to be there as the other. Perhaps the problem is not with the policy but with the ambiguity of our rights as Americans. Where does the line get drawn? Can it be drawn at all? People’s freedoms imposing on other’s freedoms because our forefathers wanted to make sure that the ideas they created would be able to be interpreted through the generations.