No More Smoking at Harvard, Tufts, Brandeis, Etc…

December 15, 2008 - 3:00 pm By CC Staff

cigs.jpgBad news for smokers in Boston. The Boston Public Health Commission has just banned the sale of tobacco products at colleges in the city.

Yes, colleges! Full of adults of legal age for purchasing tobacco.

Why? Well, to protect your health, the city claims. And to keep little kids from puffing down the cancer sticks. Anti-smoking advocates think this new ruling is just gravy: “Boston has taken another step that puts it in the forefront in the United States in protecting people against secondhand smoke.”

Personally, I think the ruling seems to be a little whack.

First of all, not selling cigarettes to 21-year-old college students will not prevent minors from getting their hands on them. And if second-hand-smoke is the issue here, how can the city stop the sale of all tobacco products? Sure, dipping isn’t sexy, but it also doesn’t harm me (unless you consider how visually offensive it is).

The officials in charge of this new ruling claim that it is their responsibility to keep the students safe and that, “the sale of tobacco products is also incompatible with the mission of educational institutions which educate the younger population about social, environmental and health risks and harms.”

I think the whole thing is ridiculous. The United States is a free country, people of Boston. If college students (who happen to be adults!) want to buy some Marlboro Lights on their way to a grafitti party, it is not up to you to stop them. Smoking may be harmful, but it is a personal decision, not one the government gets to make.

What do you think? Is Boston on the right track?

24 Comments   Posted in Buzz, News
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24 Comments on "No More Smoking at Harvard, Tufts, Brandeis, Etc…"

  1. Jess says:
    Mon, 15th Dec 20083:23 pm 

    I wouldn’t mind if smoking were banned- I hold my breath whenever I walk by someone smoking haha- but I feel like there might be a Boston Tea Party part two. Fun Fact: the anniversary for that is tomorrow. Freaky.

  2. Andrea says:
    Mon, 15th Dec 20083:44 pm 

    I agree that it’s totally a personal decision to smoke or not. That being said, I also hold my breath when walking by the smokers as I don’t like it.

    I just don’t want officials to get carried away-banning candy bars (or whatever they feel isn’t ’safe’) because they hold little to no nutritional value?

    Please-do not!

  3. Jaclyn says:
    Mon, 15th Dec 20084:04 pm 

    Because smoking is a personal decision and LEGAL for adults over the age of 18, I don’t agree with the city ban. Although I do agree that private institutions have the right to ban the sale of cigarettes. So it’d be totally different had the specific colleges chosen to ban the sale of tobacco. But the city is stepping on people’s right, even if those people are between the ages of 18-23…

  4. giz says:
    Mon, 15th Dec 20084:20 pm 

    thank god.

    i have a friend who just had to transfer this semester after only a few months at my college… she is very sensitive to smoking.

  5. tim says:
    Mon, 15th Dec 20084:37 pm 

    bread and butter*

  6. Anna says:
    Mon, 15th Dec 20084:48 pm 

    I just wrote an article about this for my journalism class. They’re also forcing hookah bars and cigar bars to close within 10 years – even some that just opened a couple months ago. Sucks to be those business owners!

  7. Olivia says:
    Mon, 15th Dec 20085:41 pm 

    As a non smoker I guess this is a good thing. I have a friend who is severely asthmatic and is very sensitive to cigarette smoke so this will probably help her.

    I’m not so wild about banning something that should technically be legal though. Even if it’s banning something as toxic and pointless as cigarettes.

  8. Lauren, University of Michigan says:
    Mon, 15th Dec 20086:32 pm 

    Think about the economic implications. As if peopel werent suffering enough, now entire businesses will have to suffer or shut down.

  9. April says:
    Mon, 15th Dec 20086:46 pm 

    this is stupid……. recession is never going to end… next thing you know we’ll be doing cigarette bailouts! and just boston? wtf. what am i going to smoke when i get to boston? :(

  10. Casey says:
    Tue, 16th Dec 20081:15 am 

    I think smoking should be banned in all public areas. If someone wants to ruin their own lungs that’s their problem, but I shouldn’t have to hold my breath when walking through campus. 15 people in my family have died of lung cancer, I am very prone to the disease and so I don’t smoke, I would be pissed to no end if I got lung cancer because of second hand smoke. I don’t think we should ban the sales of the product, just smoking them in public.

    (Oh, and the Boston tea party happened on my birthday) Happy birthday to me :)

  11. Cristina says:
    Tue, 16th Dec 200812:34 pm 

    I go to McGill and they stopped selling cigs there last year – not much of a difference can be seen a year later. It’s not a big deal because we are in the middle of montreal and if anyone really wants to buy some they only need to go 2 blocks away. I agree with stopping the sale of cigs on campus, in all honesty, university students know the harms of smoking and making them less available WILL cause people to stop.

  12. Christopher Mendes says:
    Thu, 18th Dec 20087:25 pm 

    No offense to smokers, but I think this is a good thing.

    Also, both Harvard and Brandeis are not located in Boston. Different cities mean different rules. I live in Boston, but cross the river to Cambridge to buy wine in a grocery store.

  13. Nate says:
    Fri, 19th Dec 20082:42 pm 

    Maybe we should ban alcohol too.

    Oh wait… they tried that and it didn’t work.

  14. Ryan says:
    Mon, 22nd Dec 20084:21 am 

    This is bad news…

    The only reason cigarettes are still legal is because of population control. Just look at the #1 cause of death, people!

  15. goonstew says:
    Tue, 23rd Dec 20084:20 pm 

    antidisestabishmentarianism…. enjoy your tacos now for in 100 years ANTI-TACO legislation will ban them worldwide

  16. jonathan says:
    Wed, 24th Dec 200810:41 am 

    All you people who are ’sensitive’ to the myth of second hand smoke, this isn’t going to stop it.

    They’re just banning the SALE of tobacco at universities. You can still walk across the street to the nearest Store24 and buy a pack and smoke whereever you want outside, because this is a free country.

    This is pointless legislation.

    Its just a stepping stone for legislators to try and ban smoking in public, but the Tobacco lobby is too strong to make that happen.

    So keep sucking in your breath kids.

  17. Lucy says:
    Wed, 24th Dec 200810:59 pm 

    “…in all honesty, university students know the harms of smoking and making them less available WILL cause people to stop.”

    Are you serious? Obviously you don’t know how ridiculously hard it is to quit smoking. Smokers will do anything to get a pack of cigarettes, including walking an excrutiating 3 blocks, or whatever.

    I can’t believe I ever thought Boston was cool! It’s a shame that it’s okay to be prejudiced and rude to smokers, meh..I am constantly ostracized.

  18. Tamarah says:
    Fri, 26th Dec 20087:59 pm 

    Trust me, me being born and raised in boston wont mean im on the same page as the city. I think the idea is dumb.

  19. chad says:
    Mon, 29th Dec 20087:34 pm 

    DAMN~! i go to school in boston. This just means ill have to buy my cancer sticks at home and bring them up there with me!

  20. funfun says:
    Tue, 30th Dec 20081:45 pm 

    no offense to the pretentious kids who excited and supportive of the new law, but fuck off.

    it is absolutely your decision to not smoke, but who are you guys to tell your peers they aren’t allowed to smoke because you can’t deal for 2 seconds while walking by?

  21. E says:
    Fri, 2nd Jan 20097:42 pm 

    I think it’s ridiculous! America is a free country, and if I want to pump myself full of carcinogens then that’s my problem… When people smoke outside the 2nd hand smoke other people are exposed to is so minute and diluted that unless you are walking right where I’m smoking your body will rid itself of it almost immediately. you don’t like the smell of it? well I don’t like the smell of dog poop in the park, but we can’t take everyone’s dog away can we? get over it and mind your own business

  22. Ugly Bastard says:
    Thu, 8th Jan 20095:38 am 

    Smokers don’t respect others, so it was time they banned smoking altogether. Enough with tobacco junkies disrespecting other people!

  23. Bex says:
    Tue, 13th Jan 200912:36 am 

    In Ohio it is illegal to smoke indoors at any public institution. I think this is a good way to protect those who choose not to smoke without taking away the rights of those who do.

    P.S. I completely resent Ugly Bastard’s comment. Just because someone smokes doesn’t make them disrespectful. I know so many people who smoke who won’t smoke in their own car if there is a non-smoker in it or will wait to have a cig if they are hanging out with people who don’t smoke.

  24. jan says:
    Thu, 29th Jan 200911:34 am 

    to Lauren, and look at all the doctors who will be loosing business because there won’t be all those cancer and emphysema to treat from smoking, plus heart attacks, you can go on.

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