To Smoke or Not to Smoke

Starting in January 2014 all UC campuses will be smoke free. This action, combined with a local bill supporting the smoking ban in multi-unit housing in Berkeley, has caused a stir on campus. Some students support the bill while others think that it is infringing their rights. Nonetheless, Berkeley continues to be a campus of progressive change.

This bill, drafted by Benjamin Feiner and Sara Callander, two UC Berkeley students who serve as city council liaisons for Cal’s campus, was written in conjunction with a similar bill going through city council regarding smoke free multi-unit housing in the town of Berkeley. This bill is focused on the needs of students and how the bill will affect them both positively and negatively.

What exactly is multi-unit housing? Multi-unit housing includes any unit that shares walls, floors or ceilings. One third of Californians live in this type of housing, and a whopping 74% of Berkeley students do as well. The purpose of the bill is to protect the health effects of students as a result of second hand smoke. Smoke is absorbed through walls, floors, furniture, clothes, toys and other surfaces. Therefore, even if you’re not a smoker, someone in your building could be adversely affecting your health. Second hand smoke is linked to 70 known carcinogens and can result in an increased risk of heart attack and heart disease along with other implications such as lung cancer.

However, although the bill is drafted to protect UC Berkeley students from the dangers of second hand smoke, other issues, such as finding housing for smokers and mechanisms of enforcement, arise.

“My job as a city council liaison is that I attend meetings and find bills that students would want to have a voice in or bring to the campus. Ben and I let student groups know what is going on at the Berkeley city council,” Sara Callendar said. Sara, along with Ben, drafted the bill to “raise awareness for secondhand smoke. Also Berkeley is a progressive place so it makes sense to be progressive with this issue as well and let the Berkeley city council know that we’re in support of it.”

This bill creates a division between students as some feel as though their rights are being threatened. As a result of the bill, measures of enforcement would result in fines, evictions, or a three-strike system, thus providing little wiggle room for those who violate the bill. However, other students feel as though this bill is a progressive and transformative way to change Berkeley’s campus.

“The bill is beneficial to the health of many students and that I would be happy if it was passed,” Cal sophomore Allison McCormack said. “However, it scares me to think about the repercussions for those who smoke and the dangers of finding housing and feeling comfortable in their own homes.”

By protecting students’ health and generating awareness about the dangers of second hand smoke, students’ voices are heard in the community as they find their power to affect change.