A North Country college campus bans tobacco

This morning we’re airing an interview with John Mills, president of Paul Smiths College, about his move to ban all tobacco products on campus by August 2014.

Paul Smiths has a reputation for attracting future timber and forest product workers who take pride in their blue collar, rough-around-the-edges vibe.

For a lot of students, that lifestyle includes a can of chew or a cigarette.  But Mills says the culture on his campus was actually inspiring non-smokers to take up the habit.

“Some of our data indicated we were creating smokers,” according to Mills, “and that really bothered me.”

Banning a known carcinogen  that kills hundreds of thousands of Americans every year may seem like a no-brainer.  The move drew strong praise from the Adirondack Tobacco Free Network.

But some students are incensed at their school’s attempt to dictate a legal behavior in their private lives.

“I mean if you want to smoke, I think they should be able to.  They’re paying a lot of money to come here,” said Paul Smiths student Peter Murphy, a non-smoker who thinks his school has gone too far.

So what do you think?  Are Paul Smiths — and the hundreds of other college campuses adopting these rules — defending public health and further reducing nicotine addiction?  Or are they meddling in a high-handed way in lives of their student-customers?

Your comments welcome.

Tags: health, tobacco