The smoking bans on university and college campuses Research Paper

The smoking bans on university and college campuses - Research Paper Example While these smoking bans are beneficial to smokers, the bans are primarily being undergone to protect the rights and ensure the health of those exposed to secondhand smoke. Many smokers fight for their rights to smoke in public with the argument that â€Å"smokers and nonsmokers alike have to learn to share their space† (Smith, 2012). However, this stance is riddled with holes, the largest being that, by being forced to share space, people who choose not to smoke are still being subjected to the toxins that smokers insist on. Nonsmokers are not given the opportunity to be in public smoke-free environments because the smoke does not stay in one place but wafts in all directions, leaving nonsmokers with very little choice in the way of clean air. As such, these smoking bans on university campuses, and in other public locations, seek to protect the rights, and the health, of nonsmokers (Fortin, 2007). They are being put in harm’s way when someone else decides to light up a cigarette, a choice that nonsmokers seldom have a say in. These bans will give nonsmokers the protection that their health requires. Similarly, â€Å"comprehensive smoking bans can reduce secondhand smoke exposure among nonsmokers† (CDC, 2007). Secondhand smoke has proven to be more dangerous than the smoke inhaled through a cigarette. This is due to the fact that filters in cigarettes remove the most deadly toxins as smokers inhale, thereby allowing them to not inhale all of the toxins. Those exposed to secondhand smoke do not get the benefit of the filters, and are left to to wade through the harsh smoke, toxins and all. These proposed and active smoking bans protect employees and students from exposure to secondhand smoke on college campuses (ANR, 2012). While smokers are inhaling dangerous toxins themselves, they are leaving behind something much deadlier for those who have made an active decision not to smoke. Essentially, nonsmokers are being punished for the choices made by smokers,