All over the country there are laws prohibiting people from not picking up after their dogs on streets and other high traffic areas. Now imagine that there is a group of people who have made sure that the dog must be in certain areas to do its business and that the owner is fined for not picking up after the dog. Now this group has decided that is not good enough. They propose to ban dogs from pooping altogether because they see the doggie doo on occasion. They could create legislation that would enforce the laws already in place or they could change the rules. However, they are going to the extreme, trying to ban the entire thing. A huge controversy, paralleling this hypothetical, has arrived on the DU campus this year.
AUSA senate has decided that everyone on campus would benefit from a smoking ban. I am here to represent the large group of people that says “nay” to this proposal. Since I am a member of this campus, and know the different opinions, I can say with authority that creating a smoking ban would not solve any problems; in fact, it would give rise to other issues. The most pressing of course, is that the ban would significantly reduce freedom of choice here on campus. As legal adults, we have the right to choose what we do with our bodies. We can eat fifty hot dogs, get a tattoo, or run 26 miles in a day. Smoking outside is no different. As Americans, we are born with this identity of freedom of choice- it defines us, makes us who we are. This does not change when we walk inside the boarders of the DU campus. If you want something different go to North Korea. Do not lose sight of your community because you disagree with the decisions of others.
The strongest argument for the smoking ban is the “public health issue.” Non-smokers do not want smoking to occur in a place where the second hand smoke can harm others. Restrictions have been imposed which limit where people are allowed to smoke. These precautions keep people who do not wish to die of lung cancer safe because the smokers must remain outside, where that deadly carcinogen simply floats away. Doing anything further is freedom infringement.
Who are we to say that those people are not allowed to smoke? This country is based on an individual’s freedom of choice, regardless if the decisions are illogical. This little phrase might sound a bit familiar to you, if you do not reside under a rock, that is: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The people of this country, based on our longstanding principles and values, such as this excerpt from our Declaration of Independence, do not have the right to tell others what to do as long as the actions are not harmful. This is why smokers are forced outside. I would rather not breathe in a giant cloud of cancer when I go into a restaurant, but, outside in the open air, twenty-five long feet away from the buildings, they only harm themselves.
Even though it is the popularized reasoning, it is my deep regret to announce that the major motivations for this ban have nothing to do with safety or “public health.” On the contrary, many groups on campus are annoyed by smokers because they cannot stand the smell or because it affects DU image, or any number of asinine issues. Using the false pretense that it is for the “public health” is ludicrous. In this country we do not ban things because they do not appeal to us. That is why we had that whole revolution in the late eighteenth century in the first place- we were sick of King George keeping us from our right to liberty.
Do not let this issue ruin the lives of fellow students and staff members. Already they deal with massive amounts of restrictions and rules in order to protect the health of non-smokers. Make a wise decision that will benefit the entire campus and save personal freedom. We can find changes for the rules, or set aside specific areas that smokers can congregate at. We do not need to go to the extreme and force people to quit smoking cold turkey in order to appease a small group of picky, whiny people who do not care about the core identity of this country: personal freedom.
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