The issue: USC considers making the Columbia campus completely tobacco-free
USC should not enact a campuswide ban of tobacco. Second-hand smoke is undoubtedly dangerous and smells repulsive to many individuals, but an overall ban would do nothing more than give USC’s Division of Law Enforcement and Safety another ticketing possibility and reason to unnecessarily punishtobacco users.
When some people hear the word “tobacco,” they automatically think of cigarettes. But there are actually many forms of tobacco, including pipe tobacco, cigars, dip, snus and chew. Each of these varieties is used differently, and each has different affects on the user and to those who surround them.
If an overall tobacco ban was enacted on campus, then products such as dip and chew fall under that heading. While seeing someone spit into a bottle or on the sidewalk might be gross, it can be equally upsetting to watch someone with terrible manners eat in the cafeteria or to sit next to an odorous body in class. Some tobacco products, such as Swedish “snus,” can even be intentionally indiscernible to others. Many students find the “buzz” in dip to be a study aid (sort of like caffeine), and while it may not be healthy, the rights of students to partake in unhealthy habits should not be infringed upon.
And let’s not forget about the unintended consequences that could come from such a ban. Some of the negative possibilities include individuals trying to smoke in their cars or people rushing off and on campus to try to grab a quick break (potentially missing class or traveling in a dangerously rushed manner). The ban could also alienate tobacco users, who might feel the university is specifically singling them out for a habit that should not be inhibited in their everyday lives. There is even the possibility that some potential, high- caliber students would be turned off by the ban and seek to gain an education elsewhere.
Instead of an overall tobacco ban, it would be better to regulate specific zones throughout campus that are easy to access where smokers can congregate without upsetting the nonsmoking population. Allow professors to ban dip, chew, etc., in their classrooms, but allow students to responsibly use those products outdoors. While smoking can be repulsive and unhealthy, it would be unwise to make those who do so feel alienated on campus.
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