College-going smokers in Boston just got one more reason to transfer. The sale of tobacco products at drugstores and on college and university campuses has been banned there since December, thanks to the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC).
The Commission also extended restrictions on smoking in public - patios, loading docks, hotels, inns and bed and breakfasts have all become smoke-free zones.
The ban comes on the heels of a report by state disease trackers showing that heart attack-related deaths had substantially decreased since the enactment of a four-year statewide ban on smoking in restaurants and bars. The commission's goal was to reduce tobacco use among youth and the poor.
Since quite a few Brown students can be seen lighting up on campus, it would be interesting, to say the least, if the Boston ban inspired a similar course of action in Providence. Rhode Island state officials have already proposed increasing the cigarette tax by a dollar per pack. Fortunately, their decision has more to do with raising revenue than discouraging smoking.
The commission declares that young people are "particularly at risk for becoming smokers," and many will not be able to resist if their very own educational institutions and nearby drugstores peddle tobacco. Dr. Barbara Ferrer, executive director of the BPHC, added that the ban will ensure that young people are not "exposed to products that make them sick when they go to places like pharmacies to get well."
The commission justified the ban on the grounds that selling tobacco products goes against "the mission" of colleges and pharmacies. Colleges are meant to "educate the younger population about social, environmental and health risks and harms," while pharmacies are supposed to dispense materials and information that contribute to well-being.
By that logic, the ban should also extend to numerous other unhealthy products sold at pharmacies and universities - soda, candy bars, energy drinks and fast food, to name a few. If adults cannot make informed decisions about smoking, how will they deal with the confusing array of other temptations?
The ban's supporters misunderstand the thought process of smokers and potential smokers. Prohibitionists view the latter as completely oblivious, and thus unable to make their own choices without the help of a health commission. Current smokers must be of the "out of sight, out of mind" variety, willing to give up their habit as soon as maintaining it becomes inconvenient.
The Public Health Commission was kind enough to give cigar and hookah bars a grace period in light of the current economic situation, but those establishments will not be the only ones affected. Walgreens spokesman Michael Polzin told the Boston Globe that stores would "lose not only the tobacco sale, but those other items (smokers) also pick up on the same shopping trip."
Smokers are a rather staunch consumer presence, and the commission should know that simply banning a consumer item from a few stores is probably the least effective way to eradicate its ill effects. Rather than quitting on the spot, smokers will simply take their money elsewhere, which won't improve the economic situation in Boston.
Considered alongside existing anti-smoking measures, the ban is downright patronizing. Apparently, advertising restrictions, required health warnings on packages, bans on smoking in public areas, the efforts of anti-drug organizations and a cursory knowledge of chemistry and human anatomy are just not enough to help college students understand the adverse effects of smoking. No, a ban on tobacco products is what impressionable "young people" need to prevent them from stumbling into their local CVS and buying cigarettes instead.
By adopting an "I'm just doing what's best for you" approach, the government is overstepping its bounds. It makes sense to want to educate and protect minors from the influence of drugs and alcohol, but treating adults like children sets a disturbing precedent. College students can enlist in the Army, but are apparently unable to perform the much less life-altering task of choosing whether or not to smoke.
Ivy Chang '10 is a human biology concentrator from Los Angeles, California. She can be reached at ivy_chang (at) brown.edu.
