In case you somehow haven’t heard, Mississippi State University is considering implementing a ban on all forms of tobacco. Controversial topics are always met with heavy support and heavy protest and this is no exception. A poll in The Reflector asking, “Would you support a smoking ban on campus?” showed 55 percent of students voting “yes,” while 45 percent responded negatively. This does not, by any means, indicate a landslide victory for the ban. However, it shows MSU students are thinking smarter and healthier, which is always positive.
Though all forms of tobacco are up for review, the prevalent form is cigarettes. There are many personal reasons I despise smoking. How someone could so willingly subject  his or her only body to such detrimental health effects is beyond me. However, as disgusting a habit I find it to be, smoking cigarettes is a personal choice, and this is America. We have the freedom to smoke until our lungs fall off, and it is constitutionally protected. Therefore, I will not attack the habit personally. Both of my parents smoke and have since before I was born. I am no stranger to cigarettes.
But, obviously, there is a reason MSU’s legislating body, the majority of the student body and I want cigarettes ousted from campus. It is grounded in solid judicial doctrine. I will make it as clear as possible and repeat it many times. This quote was perpetuated by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., one of the most influential Supreme Court Justices in American history. This is the main point that validates my argument: “Your right to swing your arms ends just where the other man’s nose begins.”
Take that all in, because this quote has influenced decades of American legal thought. Holmes is commenting on the nature of our rights. We, as the people who established the beautiful democracy of America, are entitled to many rights.
However, your rights end where mine begin. Again: you do not, under any circumstances, have the right to infringe upon my rights. Or, as Holmes expressed it, you have the right to swing your arms around like a madman. That’s all fine and well. But, your right to swing your arms around ends where my nose begins. And for the past few weeks, I’ve been getting punched in the nose by nicotine.
The opponents of the smoking ban will scream at the top of their defective lungs, “But what about my rights?!” My reply is simple: for many, many years, smokers have abused their rights. They have subjected innocent nonsmokers to potential lung cancer, and that is absolutely sickening. There are 69 identified carcinogens in secondhand smoke, and that gives me more than enough reason to support banning those cancer sticks from our campus. About 50,000 nonsmoking American adults die annually due to secondhand smoke.
To put that statistic in perspective, in 2010, there were 14,748 murders in America. And, to be honest, I’m not sure why these statistics are reported separately.
I am not advocating burning the CEOs of big tobacco companies at the stake. They are merely running successful companies. Young children are addicted to their products before they can even consciously evaluate the health effects. If that isn’t effective marketing, I don’t know what is. Not to mention the free publicity Hollywood gives. Joe Eszterhas, one of the most prominent screenwriters of the past century, publicly apologized in 2002 for showing most of his actors with cigarettes in their hands.
“A cigarette in the hands of a Hollywood star is a gun aimed at a 12 or 14 year old,” he said. “The gun will go off when that kid is an adult.”
Cigarettes are a big part of American culture, whether or not people choose to acknowledge it. Smoking’s social effects are the stereotype of peer pressure. It isn’t necessarily the fault of the giant corporations here; it is the nature of the product they sell. People will do just about anything to “look cool” or “fit in” as the countless anti-drug campaigns told us in high school, and that is absolutely true.
We look for peer groups, and cigarettes are simply a way to conform to a certain image. Everyone does it; the way we dress, talk and act are how we choose to present ourselves. We, as a school, need to make decisions to better ourselves. Being named the third healthiest university in America without banning tobacco is honestly surprising. Do not let tobacco consumers proclaim, “They are taking away my rights!” That is an ignorant and invalid legal statement.
They never had the right to kill 50,000 people yearly in the first place. Their right to cripple their lungs ended when they put our family and friends in body bags.
Tim McGrath is a freshman majoring in  aerospace engineering. He can be contacted at [email protected].