Smoke-free:
the way to be for CSULB
Claire
R. Garrido-Ortega
Campuses
Organized and United for Good Health (COUGH)
is a student organization that, in collaboration
with an entire graduate class (Health Science
625), will be celebrating Earth Day. Since
April 22, 1970, Earth Day has been an annual
event for people around the world to celebrate
the earth and our responsibility toward
it.
This
Earth Day, we want to increase awareness
and provide education about Assembly Bill
846, provide more education about second
hand smoke, distribute information on the
environmental effects of cigarette butt
litter, and encourage students to recycle
their bottles and cans in the provided pyramid
recycling bins.
Effective
Jan. 1, 2004, Assembly Bill 846 (AB 846)
protects Californians from the life-threatening
effects of Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS),
also known as "second hand smoke."
AB
846 prohibits smoking within 20 feet of
a main entrance, exit, and operable window
of all public buildings (buildings owned
and occupied, or leased and occupied by
the state, county, or city), as well as
buildings on the campuses of the University
of California, California State University,
and California community colleges.
For
this law to be effective, a sign must be
posted describing the smoking prohibition.
If students are aware of the policy, I believe
it will become self-enforced.
AB
846 mandates signage, but instead of posting
signs all over campus and getting into the
issue of beautification, it is best to designate
the campus as smoke-free, with the exception
of clearly identified designated smoking
areas.
Establishing
designated smoking areas will generate favorable
outcomes, such as reducing campus-wide cigarette
butt litter, reducing clean-up costs, saving
money by preventing the high costs involved
with signage on an enormous campus, allowing
smokers to smoke in designated areas, and
protecting the health of non-smokers.
Creating
non-smoking designated areas does not take
away an individual's right to smoke; instead,
it eliminates the smoker's risk of harming
others.
It
is necessary to protect the health of non-smokers
from those who choose to smoke: non-smokers
have the right to breathe clean air.
Tobacco
smoke is also an important source of indoor
air pollution, causing immediate effects
as eye and nasal irritation, headache, sore
throat, dizziness, nausea, cough and respiratory
problems.
The
United States Environmental Protection Agency
has classified second-hand smoke as a "class
A" carcinogen for which there is no
safe level of exposure.
According
to Healthy People 2010, second-hand smoke
is responsible for an estimated 3,000 lung
cancer deaths each year among adult non-smokers.
Furthermore,
smoking results in more deaths each year
in the United States than AIDS, alcohol,
cocaine, heroin, homicide, suicide, motor
vehicle crashes, and fires combined.
This compounds the dangers of second hand
smoke on campus, which presents significant
health and safety issues to those who are
around the smoker.
The
Cal State Long Beach administration has
a responsibility to provide a safe and clean
environment for every student, staff and
faculty member.
There
have been many occasions when I have sat
in a classroom and someone decided to smoke
directly outside the room.
Tobacco
smoke travels and enters through the doorways
and windows. Some students, including myself,
are affected and unable to focus on the
lecture, which affects our ability to learn,
creating an environment that is not conducive
to learning.
It
is difficult to walk around campus without
breathing in cigarette smoke. Allowing smoking
near buildings forces nonsmokers to breathe
in toxins because we have to walk through
a cloud of smoke to get to class.
If
CSULB adopted a smoke-free campus policy,
it wouldn't be the first university within
the CSU system to do it. For example, CSU
Fresno's campus policy states that "smoking
is prohibited on campus with the exception
of fourteen designated smoking areas.
The
campus also prohibits the sale of tobacco
products and vendors or event sponsors are
prohibited from distributing samples of
tobacco products.
Advertising
and event sponsorship by tobacco companies
is strongly discouraged. It is possible
and necessary for the CSULB administration
to adopt similar policies to protect the
public's health from second hand smoke.
In
an effort to assist Facilities Management
with cleaning and keeping the CSULB campus
beautiful, COUGH and the entire HSC 625-graduate
class organized and volunteered to pick
up cigarette butt litter at various locations.
In
an hour we picked up more than 3,000 cigarette
butts. COUGH is more than happy to work
with the CSULB administration, faculty,
staff and students to keep CSULB safe, healthy,
clean, and beautiful for everyone.
I
leave you with one question: How long can
you hold your breath?
Claire
R. Garrido-Ortega is a master's of public
health student at Cal State Long Beach.
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