In 2012, UCF joined 640 other college campuses that decided to be “Smoke Free”, according to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation. That’s right, those signs posted on every single building on campus property, the banners hanging from light posts, and the cute little cloud decals on most walkways are not just there for looks. The initiative was put into place by President Hitt in the fall of 2012 in order to promote the health and well-being of all students, faculty, staff, and visitors while they are on campus. ‘Urge your friends and colleagues to respect everyone’s right to clean air’ President Hitt stated in a 2012 promotional video for the campus smoke-free initiative entitled “Catch Your Breath UCF”. The whole movement to be smoke-free seemed like a great one, however, a good question I think most of our students here want answered is why, after two years, are there still people smoking on campus?
Well let’s take a look at what being a “smoke-free” campus is all about. One would assume that because it is a policy, there would be some kind of repercussion for smoking on campus. As logical as that conclusion sounds, that is actually not true. According to the UCF Student Development and Enrollment Services website, ‘The smoke-free campus initiative is designed to encourage behavioral change and healthy lifestyles, not to punish those who smoke. There will be no fines or other penalties for those who do not comply’. If you ask me, that’s like telling people that murder is illegal but letting serial killers do it anyway. Can it even be considered breaking a rule if there is no punishment for doing so?
Additionally, the SDES website states that smoking is prohibited in ‘all buildings, stairwells, patios, sidewalks, parking lots and garages, on-campus streets and driveways, boardwalks, on-campus bus stops and shelters, exterior open spaces and all vehicles in these areas’. But without any one actually regulating this, there is absolutely nothing stopping any person from just lighting up in your lecture hall legally, despite UCF “policy”.
The questions that come up with the initiative show the apparent need for a stricter policy. Shouldn’t someone be regulating this? We have tons of on campus security that could be helping out the initiative right? Once again that is where the “Smoke Free” initiative falls short. When asked what we should do if we see someone smoking on campus, the SDES website answers ‘anybody that is aware of someone smoking on campus is encouraged to politely explain the UCF policy and ask the smoker to comply’. Remember, that is the same policy that says “hey smoking is against the rules…but no one can do anything about it anyway so you just keep doing you”. As strong of an argument as that sounds, any person that is truly addicted to nicotine in tobacco products is not going to decide to make a life altering change just because they are asked nicely to.
So if “Catch Your Breath UCF” cannot really enforce anything, why even bother having it (let alone coming up with such cute sidewalk decals)? Well, the benefits of being a smoke free campus are insurmountable, from decreasing second hand smoke to helping clean up our school from the evil that is incorrectly-disposed-of cigarette butts. Tobacco Free Florida gives us some scary statistics like ‘1 in every 5 college students smokes cigarettes’ and ‘each year, primarily because of exposure to secondhand smoke, an estimated 3,000 nonsmoking Americans die of lung cancer’. But there are also other statistics that are less scary, such as ‘during its first year smoke-free, the University of Kentucky had 146 people enrolled in a tobacco cessation program, an increase from 33 people the previous year’. Smoke free initiatives can be successful, but asking the people who are doing the smoking to be the regulators poses an extreme challenge.
My conclusion is this: either regulate those who break the smoke free policy or hold those who are actually doing the smoking more accountable. Just like professors making ‘optional’ study sessions for exams, it is definitely in your best interest to make use of the smoke free policy at UCF if you are a tobacco user. What better time to give up such a horrible habit than the present? Either that or just stop blowing your smoke right in my face it is getting super old.