Smoking to be banned at Saddleback

Saddleback College will be unveiling some new laws for the fall semester and one of the more interesting laws is the ban on smoking. The ban will go in effect on August 17 will pertain to students, faculty, staff, administrators, visitors, vendors and the general public attending events at any site within the college.

According to a statement sent out to college personnel from the Academic Senate, all cigarettes and/or tobacco products will be prohibited within or on all college facilities and properties. This includes the burning of any type of cigarette, cigar, or pipe. Electronic cigarettes and chewing tobacco will also prohibited.

“I think it is kind of dumb, because so many people smoke here,” Mickael Lopez, business, said. “I just really wanna know how they are gonna enforce it.”

The college will enforce the ban by asking students and other college personnel to educate people about the ban. According to a statement from the Academic Senate, if you see someone smoking on campus, kindly inform them of the policy.

Jerrin Hilliado, a sports medicine major, 18, smokes from an electronic vaporizer. These are most commonly used as a substitute for cigarettes, although exhalation releases a vapor versus smoke. However, the ban will also include any type of e-cig, vaporizer or chewing tobacco. (Niko LaBarbera/Lariat)

When asked about the enforcement of the ban, 20-year-old English major Emily Tatal believed that it was not enough.

“It is pretty much like we won’t have a ban then,” Tatal said. “If we are supposed to enforce it ourselves, then I think it is like we don’t have a ban.”

There are some students on the positive side of the issue as well. Martin Gonzales, a business major, 19, believes that the new ban is a good thing for Saddleback.

“I think it a great idea by the college,” Gonzales said. “I don’t wanna walk up to the campus and constantly smell smoke and see smoke.”

Another student liked the ban on cigarettes, but disagreed with the ban on electronic cigarettes or what they are commonly refereed to, “E-cigs.”

“I don’t mind the ban on cigarettes, but I think E-cigs are harmless and that shouldn’t be banned,” Justin Dacko, a business major, 19, said.

Beginning today there will fliers throughout campus notifying people of the new policy. The college will be updating and increasing information on the ban as the beginning of the fall semester approaches.

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