SMOKING BAN IN UP MIN

“Smoking Ban??? Grabeh pud...Asa na man ang freedom sa UP?”

This statement was written by a UP Min Student in a manila paper posted on the freedom wall last First Semester of 2007. This was one of their comments to the implementation of PERR Administrative Order No. 07-070 or The Strict Enforcement of the Smoking Ban as well as Prohibiting the sale and Advertising of Tobacco within the UP System last September 15, 2007.

I am not against with Smoking Ban in our campus. Not for the reason that I don't smoke or I don't enjoy watching people puffing cigarettes. But because I know it is harmful to one's health and to the environment.

Based on my interview to the Anti-Smoking Ban students in school. One of them said that the Smoking Ban defeats the purposes of freedom of expression given to the students of this university. According to him, the more the students are repressed by this prohibited order, the more the students go against it. As a result, some students tend to go to stores near the campus to purchase and have their cigarettes.

The other student suggested that there should be specific smoking area where students, teachers and other smokers can light their cigarettes instead of completely disallowing them to smoke. He insisted that smoking is part of his system. It's too hard to resist the addiction because it serves as his “anti-depressant” and “time killer”. He added, “The cloudy smoke I inhale calms my nerves when I am expose to tension. When I get bored waiting for my next class, smoking seems to be my last option”.

Looking at its positive side, the Smoking Ban is intended to guide the students' freedom. Their freedom to smoke contradicts to the freedom of other students to breathe fresh air. According from a UP MIN professor, “your freedom ends when the freedom of other people begins.” Cigarettes contain harmful substance that can cause health defects not only to people who smoke but also to people who are expose to second-hand smoking.

A suggestion for a specific area for smoking contradicts to the purpose to the Smoking Ban. One of my basis is the first general statement found in Smoking Ban Order at the OSA Bulletin Board. “UP Min, as one of the state universities in our country, is oblige to protect and promote the right to health of the people and to instill health consciousness among their selves.”

The reason why a Smoking Ban is being implemented is because smoking cigarettes is harmful to anyone's health, but it is still their choice. It is also a form of air pollution which contributes to the thickening of ozone layer. Smoking Ban does not overthrow the students freedom of expression, but it guides each of us to use our freedom fairly.

When I read the article entitled Hidden Meanings Beyond “Why Smoke” and “Why Quit”? of Mr. Fred Kelley, I found out a number of reasons why smokers have to stop smoking. Some of which are: save money, improve your health, cut your risk of heart disease, lung cancer and other diseases, smell better, look younger, clean teeth, live longer, etc.

I know it is hard for a smoker to give up smoking. I understand their situations because my father is a smoker. Though he tried to free himself from that addiction, it took him years before he completely gave it up. Some of my friends in school are also smokers. They told me how it hurts as they suffer torment from the withdrawal syndromes.

However, it is not impossible for an individual to relax himself in his own way and to face his depression all by his own without the bad influence of smoking. It is also not impossible for an individual avoid or quit smoking. If there's a will, there's a always a way. As what Fred Kelley says in his article, “To quit, you must take back control of your life from cigarette. Take responsibility for your own health and happiness. It is you who puts the cigarettes in your mouth, and it is you who can take them out.” The choice is in their hands.

Smoking Ban is not an overthrow to the UP Mindanao students. But rather a guide on how to use our freedom. I would consider and understand the side of the smokers, but I believe that the positive effects of the Strict Enforcement of the Smoking Ban accounts for the benefit of the majority. Support the Smoking Ban for sake of your health, for the sake of other people who suffer from second-hand smoking, and for the sake of our environment.