Mixed Reaction To Tobacco Ban On UC Campuses
DAVIS (CBS13) — The UC system is banning smoking and chewing tobacco on all ten campuses starting in two years.
Reaction to the ban was mixed at UC Davis on Thursday.
"I'm just glad I'm not going to be here when that happens," senior Sean Zweifler said.
He admittedly has a smoker's bias, but he thinks the new ban is unfair.
"We're not banning people from spraying cologne or driving or things like that," he said. "I mean there are a lot of things people are doing that are affecting people's health.
As a smoker, Zweifler is in the minority on campus. Some students who choose not to light up think banning smoking is the right move.
"A lot of people smoke on campus so I guess it'll be nicer to go around on campus without having the congestion," junior Miles Thompson said.
But it's not just the smoke that's clearing on UC campuses. Chewing tobacco will be banned as well.
"If it's unhealthy, I think to ban it on campus is fine, but people can still do it on their own if they choose to do it," freshman Michelle Wolff said.
But junior Kelly Thorton disagreed, saying if smoking and chewing are legal in California, they should be on campus too.
"There are bigger issues that should be dealt with, like tuition hikes," she said. "Why don't they deal with that?"
There's still no word yet on what the penalties will be if students are caught smoking after that ban goes into effect.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, about 8 percent of UC students and 10 percent of staff smoke. Those numbers are reportedly much lower than national averages.
