Since it was introduced last fall, we’ve talked a lot about Healthy Carolina’s proposed “Tobacco-Free USC” initiative.
But for some reason, USC’s administration didn’t take any of the criticism and negative feedback from students into account and is moving forward with their original idea come January 2014.
This initiative is a well-intentioned idea that would ban tobacco from university grounds. Instead of enforcing our existing bans of smoking cigarettes close to USC buildings, the university has decided that it will charge forward with limiting access to all forms of tobacco such as chewing tobacco and hookahs, all in the name for a “healthier” Carolina.
But while moving towards smoke-free college campuses are an emerging trend across the country, what works elsewhere will not necessarily work here. We’re on an urban campus with no clear division of where Columbia ends and USC begins, we’re located in a state that has roots in tobacco cultivation with a fairly large amount of tobacco users, and taking away a person’s inherent right to smoke isn’t something we can easily jump on board with.
It’s worth noting that there’s really no clear way of enforcement this inane policy, a problem that even administration and Healthy Carolina admits its working on. There’s no talk of fining smokers quite yet, but it’s crazy to think our police officers don’t have better things to do then worry about politely asking people to put out their cigarettes.
This is an issue that students and members of the local community feel strongly about. Moving forward, we can only hope that USC administration and Healthy Carolina slow down and actually take the time to listen to the people they’re trying to protect.