SGA votes against restricting campus smoking

The SGA rejected a resolution that would have increased the distance people must stand from buildings while smoking at a meeting last night.

This bill comes at a time when the University Senate is reviewing a campus-wide smoking ban, which would completely eliminate the need for a non-smoking radius.

The nearly 30-minute debate surrounding the issue turned to ways to improve enforcement of the existing 15-foot policy before increasing the no-smoke zone to 25 feet around building entrances and windows. The issue culminated in a 19-11 vote in which Student Government Association legislators showed a sweeping preference for focusing on the policy at hand before recommending an amendment.

“People aren’t following the policy that exists,” South Hill legislator Kevin Ford said. “What I’m wondering is, why should we expand the provisions of a failing policy? It’s like promoting someone who isn’t doing their job.”

SGA Senior Vice President Elliott Morris suggested they look for ways to improve enforcement that don’t involve putting the pressure on resident assistants, who are charged with the responsibility to enforce the policy around dorms.

“As of right now, the only reasonable implementation is asking RAs, who do far too much police work as it is now, to continue doing things along those lines,” Morris said.

Some, such as engineering legislator Michael Schwartz, added that while the principle of extending a no-smoking radius is “magnificent,” it would not be an easy policy to enforce.

“I’m not even sure that RAs would actively enforce this kind of policy,” Schwartz said.

For non-residential buildings, it is unclear who is responsible for enforcing the policy.
University Police spokesman Paul Dillon, who spoke at last night’s meeting, said he wouldn’t want the police to be put in charge of enforcement.

“This is a no-win situation for us,” Dillon said. “I don’t think it’s something we should be involved with enforcing. ... I’d much rather have our officers looking for more serious criminals than the person who is smoking 12 feet away from a building instead of 25.”

When asked who or what department might be able to enforce a smoking radius, Dillon couldn’t provide an answer, saying he was trying “to punt it as far away from [the police] department as possible.”

Freshman legislator Zach Cohen — the sponsor of the SGA legislation — said he originally authored the legislation because he is personally affected by secondhand smoke every day.

“Frankly, Maryland’s policy is antiquated,” Cohen said. “I want it to be so that my health won’t be impacted but that smokers can continue their habit if they want to.”

After the bill was rejected, Cohen said he was “disappointed but nonetheless undeterred,” noting as long as smokers continued to linger outside buildings without regard to distance regulations, those concerned about secondhand smoke would continue to fight for stronger enforcement.

“It’s not the principle of the bill that was rejected, it’s just specific parts of it,” Cohen said. “But this issue isn’t going away anytime soon.”

openchowski at umdbk dot com