Smoking Ban

By: Chaney Carlson-Bullock

If a smoking ban is set at Lasell College, it would cause controversy throughout the campus.  There are some people that want to ban smoking on campus in order to maintain a cleaner environment and also for the sake of the students’ health.  However, it seems to me that administering a smoking ban on campus would limit the freedom of the students that attend this school.  One issue regarding this possible ban is that smoking cigarettes is perfectly legal, therefore the school should not have the power to control students who are not even breaking the law.  Students will not feel as free to do what they wish at Lasell, and this may cause less people to attend.

Another problem that the ban may cause, is students getting into more trouble.  The ban is not going to make all the students that smoke now suddenly drop their habits.  All that this will lead to is students having to be secretive and sneaky when they smoke, and frequently getting fined for doing so.  For example, sophomore Kevin Paul would certainly not stop smoking. “Yeah, if there was a smoking ban, I definitely would not follow that,” Kevin remarked.  “I would just hide my ‘cigs’ and just put them down if I see the cops.”

If Lasell passes a smoking ban, it will have a negative impact on the school.  In the long run, it will upset many students that already attend the college and may discourage high school students who are looking to possibly matriculate here.