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Hoping for a smoke-free university may be a pipe dream

I have never smoked a cigarette.

That certainly doesn't mean that I don't know what a smoker's life is like. I've worked with smokers. I've had friends that were smokers. And, sadly, I've gone to funerals for smokers who have died from cancer and other diseases. So, while I may not light a cigarette myself, I certainly have seen what sort of effects smoking can have on people close to me.

The American Lung Association estimates 25 percent of the population smoke cigarettes. Walking around Bloomsburg, I would guess the number here is closer to 50 percent.

It's pretty evident to anyone who has lived in a dorm, walked through campus or tried to get into any buildings, that smokers are a nuisance to this campus. They block entrances to buildings, making a "gauntlet" for people to run through on their way to class. Smokers walk down the sidewalks and blow their smoke in others' faces, without any concern for their well being. I can't open a window in my apartment without a cloud of smoke coming into my living room. I feel very lucky that I don't have asthma. Otherwise, I could be in some real trouble with the inconsiderate smokers on this campus.

My guess is that most college students started smoking in high school. It was cool there. It was the thing to do. They fell victim to peer pressure and now have a hard time kicking the habit. Students, especially high school students, don't fall victim to peer pressure. I know that I have, in one way or another, and I'd guess that nearly everyone on this campus has at one time, if you're honest with yourself.

The peer pressure that once existed in high school to be cool and smoke is no longer present in the college environment. People are more sensible here. They know what smoking can do to their health and their friends' health. It's no longer necessary to fit in with the rest of the crowd. Consequently, I believe that there should be some sort of incentive to help people stop smoking: make Bloomsburg University a smoke-free university.

Evidently, many smokers do want to quit. According to the American Lung Association, 70 percent of smokers want to quit each year, and 35 percent do make an attempt. Only two percent are ever strong enough to do it, though. This number completely struck me by surprise. An addiction that only two percent can overcome is much more of a problem than I thought.

Looking at these numbers, you have to start asking yourself some questions. Why start in the first place? If I'm smoking now, why am I smoking, and is it improving my quality of life?

Smoking is like any other addiction—it can be overcome. It takes people who care enough about themselves, their health and the health of the people around them to make the decision to quit smoking.

Why would you want to quit smoking? Let's think about it this way. If someone told you that you could take a pill everyday that would give you lung cancer, would you take it? Well, if you're smoking, the pill comes in smoke form. And, to tell you the truth, I think it sounds just as ridiculous. If you don't want to quit smoking, then you are casting aside the more than 430,000 deaths each year directly related to smoking, —not to mention the countless number of diseases that your habit causes.

I realize it's not easy to quit smoking either. The most effective technique to quit smoking in 1997, according to the American Lung Association, was nasal spray. This technique is only 30 percent effective. This shows how difficult it really is to quit smoking.

To be quite honest, I have had many friends, teachers in high school and acquaintances who have quit smoking cold turkey without any sort of gum, patch or other technique. I really recognized how strong people can be when they put their minds to something and finally accomplish such a daunting task.

Do I know first-hand how difficult it is to quit smoking? Certainly not. I was strong enough in high school and college not to succumb to peer pressure to start smoking. So, I don't have to worry about the difficulties of quitting smoking and what smoking will do to me in the long run.

I know a smoke-free university would have to come in stages. I'm not naïve enough to believe that everyone can quit cold turkey or without help. The first step in solving a problem is recognizing that you indeed have a problem.

Now Bloomsburg University, as a smoke-free school, would have more than just the average school. They would have the best computers, recreational facilities, sports fields and classrooms in the state, possibly even the country.

Where might Bloomsburg get the money? Well from a sharp rise in cigarette prices, of course. If we raise cigarette prices to $15 a pack, Bloomsburg, and the other smoke-free universities, would receive significant tax money from cigarette sales to help with all these new expenditures. Now what healthy high school student or transfer student wouldn't want to come here?

If the $15-a-pack hike doesn't deter the smokers enough, then the packs will be raised to $20 and $30, and so on. When it gets to a point that smokers can no longer afford to feed their bad habit, then the price hikes can stop. But in the meantime, there will be many, many schools that have benefited from the cigarette price hike.

The decision to stop smoking should be practiced away from college as well. You should take it into your job and into your home to really make a positive effect on your life.

In high school, I worked in a music store with a lot of smokers who felt that they needed a cigarette once an hour or they couldn't make it for the rest of the day. So they took a 10 to 15 minute break every hour or so to indulge their habit.

There are two things inherently wrong with this situation. One: as a smoker, you are a mark of business inefficiency. You take a 15 minute break about every hour paid by the company. Two: you are getting paid to continue a bad habit.

Do you think that companies would object if you were an alcoholic and had to take a 15 minute break every two hours to get a drink? Absolutely. You'd be returning to work worse than when you left 15 minutes earlier. But with smoking you have more with you upon your return than you had when you left: you have now acquired a pungent odor which drives any customer a safe distance away from you.

Many companies do indeed have regulations against drinking during the work day. Why aren't there any sort of regulations in place that prohibit you from coming back to work smelling like an ash tray?

If companies want to start giving their employees 15 minute breaks every hour to indulge their bad habits, then I better start getting breaks to check my e-mail or watch VH1's "Pop-Up Video", because Lord knows I've spent enough time doing both to consider them bad habits.

I am also working more hours as a non-smoker than I would if I were a smoker. I certainly don't get those 15 minute breaks to indulge my obsession for "80s Hair Metal Pop-Up Video," so I'm working straight through my shift until it's time for my scheduled, off-the-clock break.

Before the smoke-free university is in place, certain things can be done to alleviate the problems that we are currently facing. First, create enclosed rooms for smokers in all of the dorms and academic in the basements— far out of the way of everything, and in inconvenient places—a closet, whatever.

Bad habits aren't nearly as bad if they don't affect others around them. Also, employers: stop allowing smoke breaks. Allow only the breaks that are scheduled, or if you must allow smoke breaks, dock the time on the smoker's pay card. That may make them think again before taking a smoking break on company time.

Until Bloomsburg University becomes a smoke-free school, a little common courtesy can go a long way.

First, don't smoke in non-smoking areas. This seems almost too obvious to say, but I see it all too often.

Second, don't walk and smoke at the same time. The wind carries more of the cigarette smoke than you think into the person behind you.

Finally, find a better place to smoke than right in front of buildings. Non-smokers and asthma sufferers have to walk through this gauntlet, so let's not make them suffer any more than they have to.

And, for the record, "I used to smoke cigarettes" is just as good as "I have never smoked a cigarette."