No Smoking on Campus

Name: Professor’s Name: Course: Due Date: No Smoking on Campus Smoking is a legal activity. There are no laws that prohibit smoking in the world. However, there are institutions that have laws against smoking and often debates arise about the legality of such prohibitions. Recently, this debate found its way into U.S. campuses as many of them started to ban smoking within the campus premises. Some students believe this infringes on their rights and freedoms. However, a significant number is also in support of this ruling or law as it believes that they can finally have a breath of fresh air while walking on campus. So, the question is, is it right for campuses to ban smoking? Well, the answer to this question is yes and this article seeks to offer an explanation as to why. The gist or the essence of the article is built around the notion that smoking within campus premises infringes on the rights of those who do not smoke. Additionally, smoking infringes the health of other students while also causing damage to the environment. First of all, smoking infringes on the rights of non-smokers. Smoking is a choice and to some people, it gets to a point where it becomes an addiction. Regardless of the above, those who do not smoke do not have to be forced to smoke in passing without regard to their feelings and decision not to smoke. Gross (2015) notes that legalizing smoking on campus premises “leaves out group of students: the unwitting second-hand smokers who don’t think inhaling mouthfuls of smoke is fun. These people’s freedoms aren’t limited by smoking bans. In fact, the bans protect their freedom to breathe air without sucking in pollution.” Gross does make a good point here noting that banning smoking helps those who made the conscious choice not to smoke. Additionally, of the 7 billion people in the world, around 1 billion smoke and infringing the rights of 7 billion people for the sake of the 1 billion people is not right. In the U.S. colleges, the number is even lower and subjecting or forcing the other students to be second-hand smokers is not only right but also unethical. Furthermore, smoking is a dangerous endeavor as confirmed by doctors around the world, so it makes sense to protect the lives of those who do not smoke. Gross continues her argument saying that “to protect the rights of smokers is to limit the rights of everybody else, who should have access t...