Our "Tobacco-Free" Campus

Despite FIU’s “Top 10 reasons for going smoke-free” there is nothing being done to actually enforce this policy. As noble as it is, the ground continues to be littered with cigarettes. You can’t walk anywhere without encountering at least one person smoking. And considering how big our campus is, that is a problem.

          I believe that we could actually make a compromise; keep the school mostly smoke-free, while allowing the smokers a safe haven. Recently, I visited a friend at Broward College’s central campus and there were designated smoking areas all over the place. The students who smoked used them and only them to enjoy their habits, while the ones who didn’t knew exactly where to steer clear of.

          As much as FIU and Florida and pretty much everyone else would like to stop people from smoking for health reasons or anything else, there isn’t much we can do to actually make them. Quitting is up to them. All we can do is help those who would rather avoid getting caught in a cloud of secondhand smoke. Building designated smoking areas, with their own benches and ashtrays built in would be beneficial to all. It would give the smokers somewhere to be and even encourage them to not smoke where they would be penalized or looked down upon.