Smoking cigarettes is revolting.
My dad smoked when I was growing up and I can still remember the stale smell that hung on him when he would come in my room to kiss me goodnight. My grandpa smoked almost his whole life and I don’t think it exactly extended his time on earth. I hate it and I always have.
My dad quit around the same time that the question “smoking or non” became a thing of the past, so other than dumping out the ashtray at work in high school, my exposure to the dirty habit was done. Or so I thought.
Walking to class my freshman year, I was nearing the business building and was enveloped in a cloud of smoke, that horrible stale smell was hanging in the air again.
Almost as bad is the even stronger and more widespread odor of a vape cloud, so thick and sweet, it could choke a unicorn.
As a general rule, I’m anti-smells when I’m just walking about trying to live my life and go to school, so when I heard that there was an organization trying to make Ferris smoke-free, I was thrilled. Then I thought about it.
It is federal law that when you turn 18, you can buy and use tobacco products in the United States. It’s been that way since 1992.
If you’re legal you can drink alcohol, as long as you follow the rules, on Ferris’ campus. Why is smoking different?
I understand outlawing it in buildings, it makes sense. It’s a hazard, the smell permeates everything and there is nowhere for it to escape but outside is a different story.
A college campus is a place intended for adults; short of a strip club and a bar, if it’s going to be allowed anywhere, it’s here.
Sure, I hate smoking and I think people that do it are stupid to waste the money on something that actively harms them but it’s their right to do it.
So I say: let them smoke.