Smoking in the Breezeways

Valencia Students Lighting Up Everywhere

By Alex Barrett

Every time you turn a corner in the breezeways at Valencia, a familiar sign hangs above your head; “Smoke-free breezeways.” It states that smoking is prohibited in the breezeways of the school for the courtesy of others who may not choose to light up. With smoking being dangerous to the person that is sparking it up, equally as dangerous as second-hand smoke, or the contaminants that are dispelled by the smoker you may be inhaling, even though you aren’t the one smoking.

Second hand smoke is more technically known as Environmental Tobacco Smoke, or ETS, and according to the American Lung Association, ETS lingers in the air hours after cigarettes, cigars, and pipes have been extinguished; meaning just because there isn’t a smoker next to you, doesn’t mean you aren’t being affected. ETS has also been confirmed to cause a wide range of health effects, including cancer, asthma, and respiratory infections. For you statistically inclined people, ETS claims approximately 3,400 lung cancer deaths, and anywhere between 22,700-69,600 heart disease deaths to non-smokers in the United States… Each year. With all of this in mind, It’s good to know that Valencia is taking a stand to try and keep our community airways cleaner for those who don’t really think cancer is fun; but there’s a problem here, no one is enforcing the rule.

If you were to start on one side of the campus and walk to the other, using nothing but the breezeways, you would find out that these signs that support a cleaner learning environment are often overlooked, and sometimes even flagrantly ignored or shunned.
“Ill smoke where I want, when I want. You can’t tell me how to live a part of my life; deal with it,” says David Gonzales on the West Campus of Valencia. When asked if he cared about the second hand smoke he was causing, and the harm that resulted from it to others, his answer was an emphatic and snappy “no.”

Maybe this is a deeper seeded problem than just Valencia. As you probably know, all establishments in Florida that are public areas are all smoke-free, with the exception of stand-alone bars, or bars that serve more alcohol per sales than food, making them different from a restaurant. “I smoke in the breezeways because it’s easier for me, and it keeps me in the shade. Other people should be mindful of the inconveniences that I have to deal with because I smoke. They should work around me;” says Sara Watson of the Osceola Campus. Sara, like many people, was completely unaware of the hardships caused by second hand smoke to others around her, and obviously feels that others should compensate for her choice to indulge in a smoke. So where do students of Valencia turn to get help for this matter? It seems as though many people are smoking on campus, but few have ever seen someone of authority ask a student, or faculty member, to put out their smoke; second year Valencia student Kyle Craig stated, “I have been smoking in the breezeways for the past 2 years, and no one has ever asked me to put out my cigarette, or even move to a designated area. It’s not that I want to cause harm, it’s just difficult for me to smoke between classes and move between them without using the breezeways. If I squatted at a smoking approved area, I would be late getting to my next class.” You would think the security office would monitor such behavior, and regulate the smoking in the breezeways here at Valencia; this is incorrect. When the security staff was asked about the regulation, they stated that it was more of a policy than a law, and that the Office of the Provost is the entity that is responsible for regulating the smoking. This is clearly a problem for students like Kyle, who need to be on time for their classes. However, there are others who abide by the regulations and feel that if a smoker chooses to smoke, than they should accept responsibility for their actions, like third-year student Jessica Meredith on the West Campus. “I am a smoker, and I smoke in the designated areas because I make the choice to put things in my body. I am not able to make that choice for others. When I schedule my classes, I allow enough time between them to smoke, relax for a few, and regroup before heading to the next session. I would advise others to do the same. It not only helps your smoking routine, it gives you a chance to wash your mind in between classes, which has been invaluable to me.”

Although we found substantially less people blowing smoke on the Osceola and East Campuses compared to the West Campus, we found Mike Glantz on the east side, who when asked about the regulations in place, plainly remarked; “It’s bullshit.” Glantz also added that he would puff wherever was convenient for him, and made quite a stand to have smoking legalized throughout the campus. He didn’t seem to mind that his second-hand smoke could be poisoning others, and maybe that is an issue here at Valencia. Across all campuses, the point remains; there are people freely smoking in breezeways, and it seems that nothing is being done about it. If you would like to make your voice heard; or if you have any questions or comments, possibly want to know more information, you may contact me at abarrett@valenciavoice.com. Special thanks to Louie Rodriguez for his contributions to this story.