<p>Not at SUNY campuses anyway. Inspired by "Dr. No," NYC's own Michael Bloomburg, the guardians of public health and morals are now proposing that SUNY campuses be "100% smoke free." I'm sure the zealots will view this as glad tidings, but while I am not a smoker and I am a card carrying member of the Democratic Party I do believe they are going too far. If college students and professors aren't smart enough to figure out what is good for you and what isn't on their own, government appointed nannies aren't going to persuade them. If the Board of Regents actually approve this proposal (if it is even that) I suspect it will just be reason #47 as to why out-of-state students seem to shun the SUNY schools. How does the forum like this one?</p>
<p>It already happens in many work places. I feel pity for my coworkers when seeing them smoking on the street outside of company property. Cars can spit out smoke in the parking lot but employees cannot.</p>
<p>Many college campuses and many more corporate campuses are smoke free. It’s not something just thought up by Bloomburg. It’s been spreading (thank goodness) across the country for the last decade.<br>
If you want to smoke, do it on your own property and your own time. I used to work where smokers could congregate just outside…it was amazing how often they were outside and how much less they got done. Every time it becomes less convenient to smoke, someone will quit.</p>
<p>If college students and professors aren’t smart enough to figure out what is good for you and what isn’t on their own</p>
<p>It isn’t just about them, though. Everyone around them has to breathe in their secondhand smoke, even if you are just passing by. At my campus people used to stand in front of the doorway and smoke and you had to pass through their clouds in order to get in and out of the building. I have asthma and cigarette smoke gives me migraines. If smoking only affected one person that would be one thing, but it affects the people you’re around.</p>
<p>And I’m not exactly sure why you say “the guardians of public health” like it’s a bad thing, given that they’re the ones that keep your milk pasteurized and your water fluoridated.</p>
<p>The college where I work has been smoke-free for several years. It is nice not to see cigarette butts everywhere and not to have to walk through a cloud of smoke anywhere on campus. Our college went from no smoking inside, to designated smoking areas, to smoke-free. I do not hear lots of complaints.</p>
<p>The ONLY reason I’d be in favor of this is because people can’t seem to figure out what 10-15 ft away from buildings freaking means. I’m terribly allergic to tobacco smoke. I break out in hives and my ears get very “stuffed up” for lack of a better explanation. When I lived in the dorms, tobacco smoke would waft up to my room all the time and we always had to keep our windows closed. I often have to walk through clouds of smoke when leaving buildings because they can’t just move away 10 ft. If they figured that out, I’d have no problem with smoking on campuses. At this point though, banning it entirely just seems easier.</p>
<p>My college just voted to go smoke-free, starting in September. This Summer, the smoking shelters will be removed and signs put up. It will be interesting to see how it goes, but I would echo MD Mom in SO looking forward to not seeing cigarette butts scattered across campus.</p>
<p>Smokers are the worst litterers, throwing their butts on the ground
Its a nasty habit and I’m glad more and more schools are saying no smoking</p>
<p>I don’t pity smokers on the sidewalk…they just look stupid all huddled in the weather…</p>
<p>We proudly worked to stop smoking in parks and beaches her in California. </p>
<p>I never understood the urge to start smoking anyway. You smell bad, clothes reek, get wrinkles, yellow teeth and miss out on so much. I judge those who smoke. I do. My nephew just started and I want to smack him. No more presents from me till he quits.</p>
<p>Another factor from the college’s perspective is the cost to them. By not allowing smoking anywhere on campus it helps to lower both insurance and maintenance costs for the university as a whole.</p>
<p>I’m always amused by the crowd of smokers outside hospital entrances–a harmonious group typically with docs in scrubs and patients wheeling out their IVs.</p>
<p>Add me to the list of people who like it a lot. In my mind, it stopped being a matter of individual liberty when the dangers of second-hand smoke became well documented.</p>
<p>The dangers of second hand smoke excelled outdoors 15 feet from the non-smoker have not been well documented. But believe what you want. Just don’t trample on my individual liberty.</p>
<p>I don’t like a nanny state, but I can not honestly say that the smoking ban gets to me due to personal history. My aunt died at 52 of lung cancer. She was a 2-3 pack a day smoker. My own dad’s life probably was shortened by a 2 plus pack a day habit, even though he quit cold turkey 15 years before he died. I have never smoked, and although I am not a crusader for non smoking, I do think it is bad. I just don’t go around telling people what to do.</p>
<p>Your individual liberty allows you to leave campus to engage in your voluntary activity any time you want or, if that is too burdensome, to not attend a SUNY at all.</p>
<p>I’m an ESL teacher at a community college, and a LOT of my Asian students some. Seeing them smoke breaks my heart, especially since I have lung cancer (non-smoker). I vote for ANYTHING that helps curb smoking. I wish cigarettes were $100 a pack.</p>