Mindfulness best solution to smoking problem

August 24, 2007 —

In accordance with concerns over the well-documented health problems caused from secondhand smoke, SVSU is in the early stages of establishing smoking shelters across campus.

Theoretically, these shacks will act as small smoking containers that smokers have to enter before lighting up their favorite brand.

The supposed benefits: non-smokers won't be forced to suffer the smell or health risks involved with secondhand smoke.

My verdict: this is absolute hogwash.

This is not to say that I'm ignorant of the dangers of smoking; any person who smokes puts their health at risk. Among many of the smoking risks are lung cancer, throat cancer, emphysema, and slow bone growth. More importantly for the argument at hand, any person who is subjected to secondhand cigarette smoke is put at risk to similar illnesses. However, the solution of separating non-smokers from smokers, although well-intentioned, is an awful idea.

First, aside from the amount of money these shacks are going to cost the University, one also has to take into account how difficult it would be to enforce this policy.

Think about it: SVSU's campus already has a policy in place wherein smokers must smoke at least 25 feet away from each building's entrance, and yet smokers can be seen doing their "business" much closer than that.

With this in mind, are we really to believe that student smokers, in all their hacking, coughing, glory would actually use these shelters? Besides, if you think smokers smell bad now, just wait until one comes to class after a long binge inside one of these chambers. You'll wish they had smoked outside.

There are some who might even argue that smoking shelters would bring people from different backgrounds closer together due to the close proximity they would have to endure inside one of these death traps. This mind-set, however, could not be further from the truth.

As I've said before, this shelter policy would be extremely difficult to enforce. Rather than smoking inside these shelters, students would more than likely either just discreetly smoke outside, or even worse, go smoke by themselves in their car.

Smoking shelters, then, act as a social disabler. People who smoke for social reasons will find themselves engaged in friendly conversation...with themselves.

Lastly, a close analysis of the issue brings up a few strange political parallels. For instance, if the smoking shelter idea is truly in response to health concerns, why hasn't the University also considered getting rid of the dozens of Pepsi and Coke machines that are heavily littered across SVSU's campus? Why do the eateries on campus still supply the student body with greasy, fatty foods? After all, the empty calories found in these soft drinks and these greasy foods are one of the leading causes of obesity in the United States.

Oddly enough, if smokers are forced into enclosed shelters, something tells me that the sugary drinks and greasy foods aren't going to go anywhere. Because of this, it's obvious this is more of an issue of politics rather than an issue of health.

As respectable students, we all have a responsibility to our own body, but we also have to be mindful of those around us. If you are a smoker and you share a bench with a non-smoker who starts hacking as soon as you light up, why not put out the cigarette for later? If you're a staunch non-smoker, in like manner, why don't you politely ask a nearby smoker to extinguish their cigarette, or better yet, find another bench?

In the end, respectful conversation will be a better solution than some overpriced shacks that nobody will use.