Walking around Camden County College the first thing one might notice is the litter of no smoking signs scattered
across campus. The other thing one might notice is the carpet of cigarette butts still lying across the campus.
Some students may ask so which is it, is smoking allowed or not? On July 1, 2009 the college has implemented a no
smoking policy reaching out to all three campuses. The decision was followed by a grace period of six months. The
policy was passed by the board of trustees, and now enforced by Public Safety. Public Safety Official John Shuck told
me in an interview that Campus Security fully supports and endorses all of the schools policies, not just this one.
He also stated that very few summons have been issued. Also says that Public Safety Officials have been lenient and
understanding with smokers. However they plan on tightening up and enforce the ban in the future.
Like with any other controversial topic, smoking ban has forced an uprising from students who smoke. A 21 year
old male student at Camden County College was asked on his opinion. “The whole smoking ban is dumb…I go to school
and work, and I work hard. So after my hour and a half class if I wanna light up, I feel like I should be able to…” he said
with some bitterness in his voice.
On the other side of the argument, a 19 year old female student complained that “I really hate walking to class and
be
behind someone smoking, like I don’t care if people smoke…..just not in my face.”
So maybe an answer to the problem is designated smoking areas, however Public Safety says that it is not going to
happen in the seeable future. 25 year old female student had this to say” plenty of people drive big gas guzzling SUV’s
that pollute the air worse than cigarettes, so where do we draw the line?”
This smoking ban has not only divided the students, but also the faculty and staff at the school, absolutely no one is
allowed to smoke on the campus. This ban goes along with the “Healthier America” movement going on in our
country. Just as we see Trans fat disappearing maybe one day we will see cigarettes gone.