I was told before I came to Kalamazoo College that there was more of a smoking culture (with cigarettes) than at high school. I had an expectation, but what I thought is not close to how it truly is.
Where I attend school, I walk by and see about 10 people smoking every day. And I see different people doing so fairly often. Some of these people are international, where smoking is more commonplace than in some American cultures, but no matter who it is, the number is still high. Higher than what is healthy.
Smoking is the leading cause of death in the United States, with over 430,000 deaths annually. Smoking causes multiple forms of cancers, diseases, and other harmful conditions to the body. And these facts of how deadly and poisonous smoking is are common knowledge. It's fact that smoking is detrimental to one's health, and PSAs on the subject are constantly on TV, in commercials, online, even in social media. Multiple times I've seen an anti-smoking ad during a Snapchat Discover story.
But even with how common knowledge it is about how dangerous and terrible smoking is, it continues to be a part of our culture. Despite how much information is out there about the negative consequences of smoking, people continue to risk their lives doing it. Unfortunately, smoking is incredibly common among college aged people.
However, I cannot control what other people end up doing with their lives and with their bodies. I cannot stop them from breathing in deadly chemicals. But just because they are shortening their lives does not mean they should shorten others' as well.
Second hand smoke is, though not as deadly as smoking, still a serious concern. Causing over 40,000 deaths annually, it is also dangerous to all people, causing cancer, diseases, and making already present health problems worse. These risks don't just come from long term exposure, but even relatively brief exposure to second hand smoke can trigger problems.
And because of the number of people who smoke at college, far too many students who don't smoke are still having their health affected by just walking past any one of the number students with a cigarette in hand. It is not just around the quad or on the sidewalks, but directly outside the buildings, right where student traffic is highest.
Many schools around the U.S. have become tobacco free, and other ones have policies that prohibit smoking in and near the buildings, including my own. However, students who smoke put non-smokers at risk by smoking directly outside buildings. Policies regarding safety with smoking are not being taken seriously, and smoking is done inside the distance from buildings where it is prohibited, making it unsafe for any and all students to go into those buildings.
This is not simply meant to be a PSA to get people to never smoke again. One article cannot force people to change how they live their lives. However, respect should be given to those who wish to keep their lungs clear, and it is not. If the policies to keep students safe are not being followed as they should be, more steps should be taken to make smoking less common.
We deserve to be in a safe, healthy environment. And with smoking as common as it is, we are not. Not just for those who partake in this lifestyle, but for everyone around them.
We should commit ourselves to a safer lifestyle.
