Opinions Editor Ryan Obradovic claims e-cig ban is unjustified
By: RYAN OBRADOVIC
Opinions Editor
Recen t l y the Board of Trustees got together and revamped the district-wide smoking ban.
In addition to cigarettes and other tobacco products, e-cigarettes are now on the list of banned tobacco substances even though it’s not tobacco and nothing has been proven to suggest that vaporizing an e-cig is harmful to anyone’s health.
If anything, e-cigs have greatly cut down the use of cigarettes on campus, which is a great thing because it shows that people are willing to quit if there is an adequate, healthier substitute.
Now this healthy substitute is being taken away because “STLCC is committed to providing a healthy educational setting and workplace not only for our students and employees, but also for those who visit our campus and facilities,” Interim Chancellor Dr. Dennis F. Michaelis said in an email regarding the ban.
It’s not like e-cigs are unhealthy. Just like the court systems, e-cigs are innocent until proven guilty of being bad for you.
They only have two chemicals, propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin, which are both approved by the Food and Drug Association (FDA) in food products, according to v2cigs.com.
Traditional cigarettes have 4,000 known chemicals and 69 of those are known to cause cancer, according to tricountycessastion. org.
So why is there a ban on e-cigs again?
I think the banning of e-cigs is about the school feeling insecure about their appearance, rather than a concern for student’s health.
I understand this because who wants their school to be known as the one whose students smoke leisurely in the hallways?
That problem can easily be solved though, because not everyone just blows huge clouds of vapor in the air.
Fines can be handed out to those who annoy everyone with their storm cloud-sized hit because they deserve it, but not to the ones who try to conceal their vapor.
No one appreciates the massive clouds in school and those people give misconceptions about those who use e-cigs for the right reasons.
Since what is being inhaled is water vapor, it evaporates more quickly than cigarette smoke so it is a lot easier to conceal, also diminishing the cough for less of a distraction.
STLCC is jumping the gun on this topic. Because e-cigs are a new trend, people are going to be skeptical and automatically assume it is bad, especially since it is being smoked.
Look at pot for example. It was made illegal because people thought it made you crazy without knowing anything about it.
Now it is being sold as medicine for multiple ailments, including cancer. But that is a totally different story.
STLCC should revisit the smoking ban and revise it so those who distract others can receive discipline.
Another solution would be to leave it up to the teachers to say whether e-cigs can be used in the classroom, just like the food policy.
I have yet to hear of a person dying from using an e-cig, but people die every year from obesity and fast food while that is still allowed in classrooms.
Maybe STLCC could look how to actually improve student’s health in their next rule change.
