Smoking Ban: One Year Later

The smoking ban introduced on the SUNY Rockland campus just over a year ago is well underway, prohibiting smoking on all school grounds. Signs posted all over campus act as reminders that smoking is not permissible—but are students and faculty abiding by the new school policy?

Several students admitted to having witnessed others smoking on campus, lighting up a cigarette or two with little care of the new rule. Smoking is a habit that is hard to break, but the recent ban should at least deter smokers from lighting up on main campus, most say.

Officer Christian Cea of Public Safety has observed the events following the administrative decision to enforce a non-smoking campus. When asked if the ban has been successful this past year, Officer Cea responded, "The ban is a hard thing to implement because of the amount of people on campus. This semester we will be cracking down a lot more."

"Smoking is a nasty habit that, unfortunately, affects not only the smoker but surrounding people and the environment. So it should be a rule that no one can smoke on campus, in between classes and around others," said one student who did not want her name used.

On the other hand, many believe that people have the right to smoke where they deem appropriate, regardless of school regulations. Although the non-smokers who oppose cigarettes on campus may be satisfied with the ban, the ban could be acting as "fuel to the fire" for those who think it's their right to smoke where they want.

Although there is no official fine for being caught smoking on school grounds, the penalty, so far, is a written warning by by Public Safety. If Public Safety notices an individual who is repetitively being written up for smoking, the issue is then taken to administration.

Officer Cea believes the best way to prevent people from smoking on campus is to meet those in favor of smokinh on campus half way. "Maybe something like a designated area for smoking on campus can solve the problem of smokers who disregard school policy," he said.

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that things will change, Officer Cea said. "It's the same concept as a stop sign. You could put hundreds of stop signs up but it doesn't mean people will actually stop to obey the law."