STAFF EDIT: No smoking bans, please

After a recent report revealed that over 100,000 heart attacks could be prevented annually after a nationwide smoking ban, students feel that despite health benefits, the measure would be ethically impractical. Most Boston University smokers and nonsmokers alike agreed that an outdoor smoking ban ‘- coupled with the typical prohibition of smoking inside most buildings ‘- would breach the personal rights of people who should be able to do whatever they want with their bodies.

In short, an outdoor smoking ban would be going too far. Since secondhand smoke circulates in open air and isn’t as dangerous as it would be, say, in a closed room, and since nonsmokers can avoid actual prolonged exposure to it, smokers aren’t really hurting anyone but themselves. And with high-profile antismoking campaigns like Truth targeting young people almost exclusively, with the assistance of antismoking curricula in schools following Americans from kindergarten through adulthood, today’s smokers know now more than ever the dangers of smoking. They’ve seen the desecrated lungs, the yellowing teeth. Anyone smoking now doesn’t need a nationwide smoking ban to tell them why they shouldn’t smoke.

But while an overall ban of smoking in outdoor public places would be near impossible and likely a violation of rights, more regulation is a viable way of discouraging smokers and clearing the air for nonsmokers. For example, the banning of cigarette vending in campus-owned stores at BU was a small but significant step in the right direction. Prohibiting smoking in particular outdoor areas ‘- especially ones with heavy concentrations of people ‘- like parks and the entrances to buildings would be a feasible alternative to an absolute ban. Another idea to consider would be to create designated areas where public smoking was designated, and prohibit it elsewhere.

It’s been scientifically proven that a nationwide ban on public smoking would prevent thousands of heart attacks and many other complications along with them. But smoking isn’t the only bad habit that causes preventable illnesses in America. In fact, it is in bad company alongside fast food obesity, alcoholism and even maladies caused by the prolonged use of computer keyboards. Many of the things that cause illnesses in this country are unnecessary and avoidable, but that doesn’t mean people should be denied the right to choose to do them if they want to. Instead, the risks should be made clear and prevention should be urged. Beyond that, it’s the peoples’ choice.