Non-Smoking Policy Forum

About two years ago, as I was only a few weeks into my membership as a Senator my freshman year, I remember having to vote on a campus wide issue - creating a non-smoking policy. This rule would ban smoking 20 feet from any entrance to a building on campus as well as anywhere on the Academic Corridor. With a majority vote from the SGA Senate along with the GSA and one of the staff senates, the policy passed without much attention from the UMBC community. The next semester, the policy officially started and was to be "enforced." SGA actually sponsored a forum for the campus community to voice their concerns, but few showed up. All of a sudden, signs of Designated Smoking Areas popped out of nowhere and ash trays seemed to disappear. After a semester of headaches and frustration, the confusion seemed to go away, not necessarily because it was working, but perhaps because people stopped caring.

Now, thanks to C.E.A.S. and UHS, people finally want to make this work. Working with Campus Police and Chief Williams, implementation and enforcement of this policy will hopefully be taken seriously. Next Wednesday the 9th, CEAS is going to be sponsoring a forum to talk about the policy and concerns about the details. As more information becomes available, I will update this post.