Students at Florida Gulf Coast University gathered petition signatures yesterday in an effort to make the campus tobacco-free. The date coincided with the American Cancer Society’s annual Great American Smokeout.
Tobacco free campuses are a growing trend. In Florida, nine campuses are smoke free including Edison State College, Nova Southeastern University and the University of Florida. FGCU Student Emily Langton wants her school to be next. She said no one should have to breathe the secondhand smoke coming from the designated smoking stations on campus.
“Especially whenever I go to the library right in front you can smoke. And there’s a day care here and they take the children through the smoking area, as well as people who are pregnant, people with asthma, they shouldn’t be inhaling the smoke,” she said.
Representatives from the Tobacco Free Coalition of Lee County were on campus to provide materials about how to quit smoking. And, Brenden Donohue with the Health Department was there to provide facts and figures about the dangers of tobacco.
“Tobacco kills more people than does homicide, suicide, car-wrecks, drug addiction, and alcohol combined,” he said.
About 20 percent of Americans smoke. The number is slightly higher in Lee County. FGCU staffer Zach Fifer, who was taking a work break at a smoking station, is one them. He said banning smoking from campus would infringe on his rights.
“I understand the movement itself, to create a healthier atmosphere, but I don’t agree with it,” he said.
But, he said if FGCU does go tobacco-free he’d be more likely to try quit.
