WSU adopts campus-wide smoking ban

By Robby McGuire
Cardinal Staff

In early January, Winona State University enacted a new policy to make their campus 100 percent tobacco-free.

The movement to go tobacco-free began last spring with “overwhelming” support from the student body, said Dr. Karen Johnson, the interim dean of students at WSU. She described the policy as “an extension of the previous 25-foot policy,” a policy similar to the policy at Saint Mary’s University that says people must smoke at least 20 feet away from building entrances.

The purpose of the policy is to demonstrate the core value of health and wellness at WSU, as well as provide a healthy learning and working environment for students, faculty and visitors. It is also an effort by the campus to conform to a Minnesota statute banning smoking in state buildings.

Under the policy, the use of all tobacco products, smoking and smokeless, is prohibited on campus property. The policy also provides tobacco cessation programs, which are intended to help students who wish to reduce or quit tobacco use.

Read more...

Johnson said the feedback has been “mostly positive, though some students have not been pleased, of course.” On the whole, she feels that the transition to the policy has gone very smoothly.

“We understand that smokers are smokers, and we realize the addictive nature of cigarettes,” Johnson said. “We wish to emphasize that smokers are not bad people, but that smoking is simply a bad habit. We respect our students that smoke and hope that they respect non-smokers as well.”

While many students at SMU would be in favor of a tobacco-free policy, quite a few would be opposed. Of 25 students questioned in St. Edward’s Hall, 21 would support a similar policy on campus. Freshman Annie Garrigan was one of the students in favor of a smoking ban policy.

“Secondhand smoke is a potentially deadly chemical, and I just don’t think the doorways are the best place for harmful tobacco,” Garrigan said. “If it’s a method of stress relief, I think our campus could adopt more anti-stress programs.”

Kyle LeBarre, SMU freshman, finds a policy such as this one to be unreasonable.

“I’m all for sanctions of where (a person can use tobacco), but I think it would be a little unfair to leave a smoker nowhere to go on campus,” LeBarre said. “The biggest factor I see is that no matter what you do to ban a common practice, people will still find some ways.” His solution would be to change the policy to allow tobacco users to smoke in a more acceptable way, such as the construction of designated “smoke houses” across campus.