By: Diego Olivarez
East Los Angeles College is on the verge of being a non-smoking campus due to a proposed plan introduces by ELAC president Marvin Martinez.
Many students and staff members are daily smokers and could be affected by this prospective rule.
So, should ELAC become a non-smoking campus? Yes. Being in a classroom or work can sometimes be very exhausting.
The first thing a smoker would do is smoke a cigarette. If this proposed plan were to pass it would mean the end to their smoking habits on campus.
However, for those who dislike cigarette smoke, this is a huge relief. Students, faculty and staff would come to school knowing that they won’t have to take in second-hand smoke.
This decision will split the ELAC community into two groups: smokers and non-smokers.
Smoking on campus should be banned. As someone who is trying to overcome a smoking problem, I see the harmful effects that it imposes.
It’s tough trying to avoid second-hand smoke, especially when walking past a smoker. At times I am forced to inhale their smoke, which isn’t an ideal situation for someone who is trying to quit smoking.
The choice to allow students to smoke on campus could give ELAC administration a negative image. If smoking is allowed on campus, then people could roam around school smoking drugs out of paraphernalia that look like cigarettes.
Smoking could be troubling for a students’ health. One of the major ramifications of smoking cigarettes is lung cancer. According to the CDC (Center for Disease Contro and Prevention) cigarette smoking is responsible for about one in five deaths annually more than 440,000 deaths per year, and an estimated 49,000 of these smoking-related deaths are the result of second-hand smoke exposure.
Smokers not only giving cancer to themselves, but to an unsuspecting other through second-hand smoke. Also, some people in the ELAC community have respiratory issues. It’s hard enough for them to have to use an inhaler to help them breathe, let alone inhaling someone else’s smoke into their fragile lungs.
This might sound unfair for daily smokers, but they have to understand that not everyone likes to smoke and they should respect the people who surround them.ELAC’s smoke-free proposal should be approved.
If students don’t agree with the smoke-free plan, then they should stick to the designated smoking areas located in the campus.