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STAFF EDIT: Enforce Smoking Rules

Walking out of any building on the Boston University campus, most students are greeted with the foul smell of cigarette smoke. The steps in front of the Tsai Center, the wall lining the College of Fine Arts and the area outside the doors to Warren Towers are barely maneuverable through the thick clouds of smoke puffing out of students’ cigarette butts. However, Boston University officials say they have no plans to restrict current designated smoking areas.

Changing the rules at this time is not smart, since BU cannot enforce the current five-foot restriction on smoking near a doorway. Posted signs and an explanation in the Boston University Lifebook are not enough to stop students from smoking just about wherever they please.

University employees must begin to take this issue more seriously. Enforce the rules set forth on campus and stop students from smoking in non-designated areas. It is not fair or healthy for the non-smokers around them.

Studies show secondhand smoke is deadly to non-smokers. In fact, about 3,000 non-smokers die every year from environmental tobacco smoke. It is bad enough that people who make a conscious decision not to smoke must wade through secondhand smoke on a daily basis. What is worse, though, is the number of students smoking so close to buildings, making it impossible to avoid inhaling the clouds of nicotine.

University officials have already made the effort to make a law against smoking near doorways — it is time they started enforcing it.

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