Smoking response

I take issue with Donnie Morgan’s Nov. 15 response (published in the Jordan River Forum) to Grace Low’s column against the new tobacco policy. Mr. Morgan is offended in particular by Ms. Low’s characterization of the policy as “paternalistic. ” He responds that the policy does not aim to make decisions for people, but merely seeks to protect pedestrians from secondhand smoke.\nWhat an embarrassing thing for the president of the Students’ Smoke-Free Coalition to say. The policy in question, in fact, bans all tobacco products, not just ones that emit smoke. Either he has not read the policy carefully, or he is being disingenuous.\nThe 30-foot rule was a reasonable compromise between those who do not wish to breathe tobacco smoke and those who want to enjoy smoke breaks between classes. If Mr. Morgan were really interested in protecting choice all around, he would advocate for stronger enforcement of the 30-foot rule rather than a policy that bans tobacco across the board. It is difficult to see how a policy that forbids everyone on campus to consume tobacco in any form is anything other than paternalistic. The Students’ Smoke-Free Coalition is, of course, free to advocate any policy they like – but I, for one, would appreciate it if they would at least come clean about their reasons for doing so.