The ongoing debate at Yale University about the possible implementation of a campus-wide smoking ban has prompted reactions from students, faculty and administrators across the country. At issue are the competing ideals of individual autonomy and social responsibility, which together form the philosophical basis for much of higher education. Yet as significant as these two principles may be, the decision that Yale makes going forward should be based on what policy will best promote the public health of its community.
With this in mind, a campus-wide smoking ban may sound like the ideal approach, but the University's experience while trying to enforce a smoking ban around its facilities suggests it would not be an effective way to tackle smoking problems at a major institution. Rather, policies focusing on the individual - such as tobacco cessation programs embedded within staff health insurance plans and student health services - offer more promise when paired with broader state and local laws prohibiting smoking indoors and in certain public places.
Advocates of the smoking ban are correct when they argue an individual's right to smoke is not paramount - as anyone who has had smoke blown in his face while walking down a sidewalk knows, smoking is not a habit whose costs accrue solely to the individual undertaking it. This philosophical point is not necessarily relevant, however, when deciding whether a blanket smoking ban is an appropriate way to go about reducing smoking on a college campus. Instead, students and administrators must consider the likely outcomes of such a policy shift and whether it would accomplish its stated purpose.
If the results of the University's two-year-old ban on smoking within 25 feet of all facility entrances are any indication, the answer to that question is a negative. Many students and staff still smoke near on-Grounds buildings, signaling that the enforcement of anti-smoking policies is spotty at best. Particularly notable is the "smoker's alley" that has sprung up along Hospital Drive in front of the University Health System's West Complex. For the many students who traverse this territory on their way to class, it is nearly impossible to avoid being hit with a puff of smoke despite the ostensible "Clean Air Zone" that has blanketed the Health System since 2009. This does not mean the smokers among the University's staff are especially incorrigible or irresponsible, but rather the resources to completely enforce such a ban simply do not exist. Despite Yale's relatively small campus size, its enforcement of a university-wide ban most likely would prove to be problematic as well.
A better way to cut down on smoking would involve incessant and positive attempts to help students and staff quit smoking on their own. This would not only require less administrative heavy-handedness, but it also would bring about a more permanent solution by changing individuals' habits rather than driving them out of the public view. The Quit for Life Program that the University offers its employees through the University Health Plan is one example of such an approach; it provides counseling, planning, educational resources and medication to smokers looking to quit. The University also has incorporated a tobacco cessation program into Student Health that provides complimentary "quit kits" and points students in the direction of community-based support programs.
Yale's proposal to go entirely smoke-free has at its core the noble goal of a healthy university community, and opponents should avoid demagoguing it with the language of personal choice and individual liberty. Even so, the mixed results of the University's smaller-scale smoking ban should give other schools pause before they enact such sweeping changes to their own policies.
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