By Ashley Berry

The fall semester of 2015 has brought some exciting changes to Southern Maine

Community College, the most important being that the campus is finally tobacco/smoke-

free. It’s a little late in the game, as SMCC is one of the last college campuses to

institute this ban. Better late than never.

In 2013, the Maine Community College System (MCCS) declared that all seven

campuses had to transition to being smoke-free, and they had to come up with a self-

imposed deadline. SMCC’s idea of a reasonable deadline was August of 2015. It seems

like an excessively long period for something that should have been instituted without a

mandate having to be put into place.

It has been proven that cigarette smoke is not only unhealthy for the person

smoking, but also anyone standing around them. There are now studies coming out that

are indicating third-hand cigarette smoke is harmful. This third-hand smoke can settle in

walls, fabric, and pretty much anything else. In an article released by National

Geographic, a scientist from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory said, “Third-

hand smoke is harmful to our genetic material,” citing specifically a nitrosamine found in

tobacco known as NNA, which has been shown to alter DNA.

Honestly, it’s one thing if a person wants to put dangerous chemicals into their

body, which will inevitably lead to the morbid onset of cancer, heart disease, or one of

the many other diseases and illness related to smoking. However, if a student is walking

around campus puffing away, they’re putting all the students around them at risk,

without really even asking for consent. How many people walk up to students around

them and say, “Hey, do you mind if I expose you to toxic chemicals because of my

disgusting habit?” Absolutely no one does that and honestly it’s not acceptable.

Considering the abundant amount of students that are still seen smoking on

campus, it’s evident that the mandate isn’t going to change much of anything. The only

hope is that punishments are dealt out accordingly and with consistency, otherwise it

seems that inconsiderate people will continue to not care about how their habits affect

others.