Currently, the University System of Georgia which is made up of 31 public colleges and universities is prohibiting on-campus smoking. According to the Board of Regents, the plan for restricting smoking will be up to each university president to decide. Therefore, students who disobey the new restriction will not be subject to criminal prosecution, but some sort of school punishment. With the restriction going into effect in October, several students are openly doubting the administration and enforcement of the new rule by universities. They believe that the ban will "be ignored and defied."
Is prohibiting on-campus smoking a good idea?
Will colleges in Georgia effectively enforce the new rule?
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/us/georgia-colleges-prohibiting-tobacco-but-questions-about-enforcement-linger.html
I believe Western's campus is smoke free. I run around there often, and haven't seen anyone breaking the rule, but I can't imagine enforcement is perfect.
ReplyDeleteAlso, an optimistic look at this plan would be to say that the universities implementing the ban is an example of private actors without coercion (in the government sense) taking care of negative externalities from an addictive substance in a coase theorem manner. There are also less charitable interpretations.
While this may not fully prevent students from smoking on campus I think it will help clear up the externality of second hand smoke. I expect students to at least avoid smoking in high traffic areas such as walkways and in front of buildings. By forcing students to at least smoke in more secluded areas, away from other classmates, the damage of the externalitywill be mitigated.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally I think that the policy will have the help of students to enforce it. Our generation is extremely willing to speak their mind and if there is smoking in a prohibited area I would expect that other students would voice their opinion and report the incident. This will aid in the restriction of tobacco use on campuses and make the policy more effective.
I think it is a positive sign to see that Georgia Colleges decide to take initiatives in promoting a smoke-free campus. Of course, it would receive critics from students who always smoke and approval from people who are against smoking. If this implementation created a positive change on Georgia Colleges, it would push other campuses to do the same.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very controversial topic with varying attitudes. Before I say my personal opinion, I'll reference the article quickly. If they want to restrict on campus but their fear is enforcement, why don't they just make punishment more extreme? However, this probably would not be efficient - students would continue to break it and face punishment, potentially altering students perceptions of the school if they didn't want to attend such a strict campus. Or, simultaneously, this could possibly drive a different class of prospective students, a group that enjoys the smoke free atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteIn my personal opinion, I do not smoke but I don't feel right asking those on campus to stop. In a restaurant, sure, I prefer smoke free like it is now. I think making campuses completely smoke free is risky and I would suggest first enforcing smoke free areas as well as having areas with benches meant for smoking.
Personally, I think that having campuses be completely smoke free is the best policy that could be implemented. However, I am not a smoker, so campuses being smoke free would benefit me. With that said, I understand that there are people who like to smoke and it is there right to be able to do that. I think that the best compromise available would be to have special areas designated for smoking. In stead of having smoke free areas, the campus should be smoke free, but have certain areas around campus where someone can smoke if they want to.This would allow everyone, smokers and non-smokers, to know exactly where people may be smoking.
ReplyDelete