No consequences have been set for the on-campus rule when it comes to tobacco products.
This is the first semester Ohio University has instituted a smoking ban on campus, which is something we completely agree with.
However, as evidenced in Friday’s story on the employees of the Tobacco-Free Campus Task Force, who walk around campus reminding smokers of the ban, many students are not aware such a rule is in place, despite what seemed to be an adequate marketing campaign on the university’s part at the beginning of the year.
Apparently, not adequate enough. Especially with no punishment in place for smoking on campus, students either feign ignorance on the smoking ban or don’t know it exists. A student approaching them to encourage them not to smoke won’t necessarily produce anything but awkward conversation.
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We urge the university to better publicize the ban since it is a rule we support wholeheartedly.
The reminders from task force members walking around campus are a step in the right direction, but if the university wants on-campus smokers to stop, it needs to market the ban more widely.
The Post has written several stories about the smoking ban and we hope our readers are taking the restriction to heart. Smokers in college are adults who are, most likely, well aware of the health risks for smoking, but as students who suffer from second-hand smoke inhalation, we are asking for compliance when it comes to the smoking ban.
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By all means, smoke wherever you want, so long as it is not on campus grounds where the ban is in place.
If you didn’t know about the ban, we hope the university will soon clear up the miscommunication with you.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors: Editor-in-Chief Emma Ockerman, Managing Editor Rebekah Barnes, Opinion Editor Will Gibbs and Digital Managing Editor Samuel Howard. Post editorials are independent of the publication's news coverage.
