University Star

Implementing a campus-wide smoke ban is not going to encourage smokers to cut down on their nicotine intake, or provide an incentive for quitting. The goal of advising students to a healthier lifestyle will not be accomplished if individuals have their smoking privileges taken away.

I am not a smoker, but the decision to revoke the privilege to smoke is not a concern of students’ health, but an effort to bring positive attention to the university. According to an article in the Nov. 5, issue of The University Star, at least 365 campuses in the United States are smoke-free, and ASG Sen. Dallen Terrell said he wants Texas State to become 366th.

The campus-wide smoke ban is supposed to lead students to a healthier lifestyle. What constitutes a healthier lifestyle? A healthier lifestyle can mean any number of things.

Surely the university isn’t credulous enough to believe a smoke ban on campus will direct students to reduce their smoking or cause them to give up smoking all together.

The decision to ban smoking could actually generate negative results. Depriving an individual the privilege of smoking could cause them to smoke more frequently once they leave campus. It is not rational to assume the university playing concerned parent will create healthier lifestyles for students.

Texas State must consider all possible outcomes of a campus-wide smoke ban if it’s put into action. This so-called intervention to urge students to either quit or reduce smoking habits may not have the positive effect ASG and the university thinks it will have.

According to the American Cancer Society Web site, “nicotine withdrawal symptoms can lead quitters back to smoking.” These withdrawal symptoms can lead the smoker to start smoking cigarettes again to boost blood levels of nicotine back to a level where there are no symptoms. The information on the Web site leads people to believe cold turkey is not the way to go.

Texas State administrators shouldn’t abruptly revoke smoking privileges, but through a collaborative effort with the Student Health Center, they should create a plan to gradually aid students to either reduce smoking, or quit all together.

Students will only accept a healthier lifestyle when he or she is ready. If students, faculty and staff can’t smoke on campus, they will find another way, or wait until they leave campus. The end result of a healthier lifestyle will ultimately have a negative effect on students because they will continue to smoke elsewhere.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, counseling, self-help programs and the use of FDA-approved medications are safe and effective ways to successfully quit. According to the site, “the person must want to quit and must make the decision to try to quit.”

It’s not the university’s responsibility to assume the role of doctor in trying to coerce students into a healthier lifestyle. However, the university could enforce the existing smoking policy, and the health center can help students try to quit.

The ability to quit smoking or to live a healthier lifestyle can only become effective when an individual is ready. A campus-wide smoke ban should not be implemented.

—Tristan Watson is a political science senior