While I was skimming through the opinion page of The Post last weekend, I found myself being severely offended by Nate Nelson's letter, Freedom of expression stifled by smoking ordinance. I agree with his main argument that the Student Senate cannot ban smoking on campus when it is not illegal. However, in making his argument, he ignorantly referred to smoking as being protected behavior under our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and expression. This is wrong, as there is nothing in the First Amendment that allows for smoking.
According to the United States Constitution, the First Amendment states Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Nelson believes that smoking belongs to the freedom of speech section of the above amendment. However, free speech only includes mediums of expression that communicate a message. This means that some sort of rhetoric must be used. Since when is smoking a rhetorical device? What message does smoking a
cigarette send?
Nelson's opinion would be humorous if only he wasn't so grievously mistaken. Although his claim that smoking cannot be banned on campus is correct, he accidentally convinced me to believe that smoking needs to be outlawed. Smoking is harmful for everyone because cigarettes contain formaldehyde (carcinogen)
hydrogen cyanide (used in gas chamber poison) and methanol (found in rocket fuel). We need to outlaw cigarettes now, as they are only harmful and provide no useful purpose. Also, they are clearly not protected under the United States Constitution as a right. This is because it should not be the right of all citizens to be killed by cigarettes. The young and old, big and small, smokers and second-hand smokers have the right to life; they do not have the right to die.
Marcie Howard is a junior studying chemical engineering.
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Opinion
Letter to the Editor
