Today on the Herald-Times website there has been a serious discussion regarding IU’s smoking ban which went into effect last January. It started with a reporter searching the campus for smokers and placing updates on their website, she then spoke with administrators and wrote a full article.
The ban has not been enforced in any way, and as a smoker it bothers me on fundamental levels. As an employee I could be terminated for violating this policy (which I try very carefully not to), while students face very slight (if any) consequences.
In my opinion, this smoking ban is going to be just like the ban on alcohol on IU’s campus, not spoken about. I was blown away to actually find out that alcohol is actually permitted on campus for university events if students or others under the age of 21 are not going to be in attendance.
The online discussion on the Herald-Times website opened my eyes up to a few things that I hadn’t known before, and I thought I would pass those along to everyone out there.
All of these “smoking bans” that we see today can trace their roots back to 1930’s Germany. Read here for more information. It’s really shocking to me, and confirms my ideas about the subject since day one.
Did you know that over a lifetime, medical costs for obese and average people are more than that of smokers? Read here for the article. This information “threw a bucket of cold water” into what everyone thought. I’m a firm believer that we have been sold on the idea that smoking is “more” unhealthy than it really is. I’m not trying to say that there are no health risks – I’m just saying as a country I think we’ve been duped.
These two articles really opened my eyes regarding this issue that has been raging in this town for almost 15 years now.
I have been a smoker for more than half of my 28 years on this earth. I know it’s not the healthiest of things to do, but I do it anyway. I’ve taken chantix, nicoderm and the commit lozenges to try to quit. The reason I have not succeeded in quitting is because smoking is part of who I am. Without it I do not feel like myself, while that is “normal,” I don’t like feeling that way.
While I know it is a chemical addiction just like drugs and alcohol are, that does not bother me. I have other addictions that I think are worse. To name one, it’s my endless addiction to technology.
That’s a whole other story that I’ll leave for another time.