Spring Break
Is smoking in public a right or privilege?
Jonathon Klain
Issue date: 4/2/08 Section: Lifestyle
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While most of the smokers in Whitewater may not be wearing Wrangler jeans, they are finding it harder to smoke without the disproval of others around them. Facing a moral dilemma, smokers must decide whether smoking in a public place is a right or a privilege.
Senior Coby Curkeet says he doesn't mind smokers, but would prefer people don't smoke around him.
"Personally I don't like smoking in the bars," Curkeet said. "The smoking ban is a good idea because if someone smokes a cigarette everyone around them has to suffer. If I have a drink in my hand no one is complaining."
Non-smokers and smokers alike enjoy a place they can gather without having to air out their winter-wear the next day.
Senior Justin Malmstadt, a smoker, says that second hand smoke bothers him.
"While being a smoker myself, I do not like the smell of second hand smoke, and while that may seem ironic, the truth is, going out in Whitewater hard to bare because of the smoke," Malmstadt said.
According to "The Burden of Tobacco," a report conducted by the University of Wisconsin Tobacco Surveillance and Evaluation Program, the American Cancer Society, and Wisconsin Division of Public Health's Tobacco Prevention and Control Program, Wisconsin has a frightening number of smokers and smoking related deaths.
The total number of smokers in Wisconsin is estimated at 1,005,000. Twenty-two percent are 18 years old or above, 8 percent are of middle school youth, and 14 percent are smoking during pregnancy.
Senior Matthew Powers says he is aware of the damage that smoking does but thinks smoking is both a privilege and a right.
"People who smoke are going to continue to do so whether the law says they should or they shouldn't.," Powers said. "People know they aren't supposed to urinate in public, but they still do. "
Junior and smoker James Gill says while he tries to be considerate to other people, they should be considerate to him.
"It's up to people to make their own decisions, and I think they should leave me alone with mine," Gill said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 10
Kristine
posted 4/03/08 @ 5:40 PM CST
I know a lot of people who smoke, but the smoke still bothers me. I wish that people didn't stand so close to the doors when they smoked, because it makes it harder for students to get by and for some students, it can cause health problems. (Continued…)
Joey
posted 4/03/08 @ 8:21 PM CST
Maybe a better title for this article would be, "Is going to the bar a right or a privelege?"
Paul
posted 4/04/08 @ 10:23 PM CST
Smoke if you want. Just don't do it indoors anywhere that there may be non-smokers present. Non-smokers generally don't appreciate the smoking related illnesses that come from breathing secondhand smoke. (Continued…)
john
posted 4/01/09 @ 10:43 AM CST
We as americans should be able to smoke when and where we want. People say this is the most free country in the world yet we are becoming more and more communist every single day. (Continued…)
Alberto Sanchez
posted 4/01/09 @ 3:43 PM CST
Wait, wait, wait, people are forced to go to the bars? Then the smoking ban is absolutely necessary! I can see if people had the choice of whether to go to a smokey bar or not, but since they are forced to go to a bar that allows smokers than smoking must be banned!
I always thought people had the right not to go to a private establishment if they were concerned about smokers on the premises. (Continued…)
Chester Kartoffelkopfe, flaneur
posted 4/02/09 @ 2:40 PM CST
Secondhand smoke is significantly toxic to inhalers. This is the current objective science. I'm "just letting the facts speak for themselves"--though of course they never do finally (factually, abortion IS a killing. (Continued…)
Kasey
posted 4/09/09 @ 12:26 AM CST
I feel that smokers have a right to smoke where it is allowed without feeling bullied by the non-smokers. Considering this is a college campus, the non-smokers are generally recieving looks from the party-goers and awesome people who stagger home drunk and wake everyone up. (Continued…)
michael burchnell
posted 4/22/09 @ 11:08 AM CST
SMOKING SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC BECAUSE ITS THE PERSONS OWN MISTAKE. ALSO IF SMOKING GETS BANNED THERE WILL NOT BE ANY WORKERS AT JOBS AND OTHER STUFF. (Continued…)
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