Students continue to flaunt their cigarettes, suorins, juuls and vapes around campus while the smoke and tobacco free campus policy is under review by Vice President Jerry Scoby.
Ferris public health senior and president of the Public Health Student Association (PHSA) Alyson Hill said she hopes that the proposed policy will be approved by the end of this semester and implemented by the following academic year.
“We have not gotten the Department of Public Safety (DPS) involved yet because our policy has not been approved,” Hill said. “However, when it does we will be meeting with them so they are aware of policies enforcement and regulations.”
Last semester, Ferris received a grant from the American Cancer Society to initiate a 100 percent smoke and tobacco-free campus policy. Students in PHSA were given the responsibility of the grant and how the policy is enforced. As the policy is still under review, the specifics are unclear.
Some students who heard that DPS may be involved in the enforcement of the policy were not happy about the potential results.
“I think the policy is unnecessary, so by virtue of that I don’t think it would be fair to get DPS involved. It’s not a safety thing,” Ferris history junior Stephen Bottke said. “The worst that one can say about it is second-hand smoke and while in close quarters for extended periods of time that’s a problem, the little whiff of tobacco or steam one might get a hundred feet in another direction wouldn’t do any more harm than fluoride in drinking water.”
Ferris clinical laboratory science freshman Paige Lintemuth expressed that she thinks that as long as people aren’t harming others on campus or being rude about it, DPS doesn’t need to be involved.
“Preferably, I don’t think I would like tobacco use on campus but it’s kind of everyone’s choice so I don’t feel like I have a right or say in that because that is their personal choice,” Lintemuth said. “I just wish we had more defined areas for them to do that so they’re not just walking around and you’re walking through smoke and everything. So personally, I don’t have a big deal with it as long as they’re courteous with it and try not to harm other people.”
PHSA plans to do another clean up during the first week of April and will also have a table in the University Center for Kick Butts Day from 1 – 7 p.m. on March 21.
“People can show support by signing the petition for a tobacco-free campus, show support for tobacco users and learn about the health and environment risks that tobacco has on our campus and our students, faculty, staff and visitors,” Hill said.
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