I was reading earlier this week, a little incredulously, about colleges that ban smoking entirely. Apparently there are more than 500 campuses nationwide that simply do not permit it on campus grounds—inside or out.
Now advocates of such are quick to tell you that there are no smoking monitors.
“Instead, smoke-free supporters like senior Melissa McCann, a Tobacco-free Take Action! volunteer, remind smokers of the ban. McCann said the 10 smokers she asked to extinguish their cigarettes this summer all complied.”
A smoking ban taken to this extreme has very little to do with public health. I think smoking laws are often silly and intrusive, but in most cases, I can see that the stated intent of concern for public health is defensible by reasonable people. I don’t here. Most college and university campuses are sprawling places, and by definition are largely populated by adults. In such places, I’m certain smoking could be dramatically curbed while still giving smokers somewhere to do it, at no health risk to any non-smoker.
No, this sort of thing has much more to do with our society’s affection for telling other people what to do. (When you read the above quote, can’t you just see Ms. McCann’s eyes twinkling?) Said affection is unhealthy, depressingly common, and fairly recent. I have no doubt that minding one’s own business has become unfashionable because we’ve now raised too many people with no (or insufficient) emphasis on self-reliance. Far too many seem incapable of even considering any other way of life.
And liberty’s death march continues.
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