On Tuesday, the Student Government Association (SGA) considered a resolution on the policies proposed by Hopkins Kicks Butts that would restrict smoking on campus.
The resolution concluded that while the SGA supports efforts to promote the hazards of secondhand smoke, evidence on how these proposals would provide positive health benefits needs to be provided.
Part of the Hopkins Kicks Butts (HKB) proposal would implement a campus-wide ban on tobacco products, which would be enforced by peer-policing and a $15 ban per violation. The student organization has also called for smoking to be restricted to 50-foot zones.
"The public health objective says that smoking is harmful. What [this group] proposed is not practical," freshman class president Wyatt Larkin said.
He suggested that policymakers should determine if smoking is a threat to student health, rather than relying on the claims made by the HKB Web site, which Larkin said, "don't really add up."
"Hopkins members have the right to breathe clean air. Despite the resolution, studies prove that second-hand smoke both outside and inside is the same," junior and HKB President Sarah Durica said. "The Surgeon General warned that there is no safe exposure to second hand smoke, including an increased risk of heart attack, asthma, allergies, and bronchitis."
According to Durica, there is also the risk of third-hand smoke, a new discovery that often includes the chemicals from tobacco left on clothes and in buildings.
At the SGA meeting, Durica also said that 50,000 non-smokers die each year from involuntary exposure to second-hand smoke and that cities which banned public smoking have seen decreased heart attack rates.
However, many such "city-wide smoking bans" include banning tobacco use inside enclosed spaces.
The first step toward an eventual campus-wide ban would prohibit smoking within 30 feet of buildings. The next steps that Durica suggested are creating smoking zones in parking areas while keeping the Hopkins campus smoke-free.
Durica felt that the plan would not necessarily condone reporting friends to campus security, but instead rely on peer enforcement and campus security.
"Is smoking a Constitutional right? It's a choice, not a right. It's not protected. So no, it's fundamentally untrue," Durica said.
Although Durica pointed out that colleges across the nation have implemented campus-wide bans on smoking, senior senator Abigail Duggan questioned the logistics of implementing such a ban in campus.
"I think it's going to be very difficult to achieve. Hopkins is significantly larger than the colleges that have implemented smoke-free bans," she said. "I find it depressing when there are butts on the field...but controlling smoking in specific areas, where people spend a lot of time will be much more effective than covering small areas where people from Baltimore public come."
Larkin cited a study from Stanford which found that second-hand smoke was only deemed harmful while one to two meters from the source.
"To mandate people into a certain type of behavior may be a thrown decision - not only does Hopkins have one of the most diverse international populations, but telling them they can't smoke affects their way of life. For people who work here, it's not our place to tell them they can't smoke," junior senator Dan Teran said.
He added, "Although it's admirable to teach people why smoking is bad, to force them to do something with pretty dubious statistics is not."
According to Durica, the HKB petition garnered about 850 signatures and the support of several administrators, including Dean of Student Life Susan Boswell and Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Advising John Bader.
But Larkin questioned the validity of those signatures.
"I have more than one friend who said yeah I signed that because they offered me candy," he said.
The SGA concluded the meeting with a motion to table the proposal until next week's meeting, which is scheduled to be in Mason Hall at 7 p.m.
-- Additional reporting by Diana Baik
