College contemplating smoking ban
Cough up, who’s been complaining to College?
If you follow the IC Union pages on Twitter or Facebook you may have seen the recent poll they ran on the question of “Should smoking be allowed on campus?”.
The snap poll was taken by the Union not as their own initiative but in order to get a broader view of the student body’s opinion.
A College Working Group is taking a look at the smoking policy on campus, trying to address issues regarding passive smoking around the entrances and exits of buildings, while not ignoring smokers completely.
Over 700 votes were cast in the opinion poll with 29% voting against the ban, 56% voting for the ban and 15% voting for the ban with the exception of Beit Quad.
Where the ban would extend to (bear in mind that Prince Consort Road, a public highway, runs through campus), and how it would be policed and enforced is yet to be proposed.
This potential ban might throw up a curious conflict of interest for the college however as their own endowment fund is actually part invested in several large tobacco firms.
A felix investigation last year (Issue 1636) uncovered that £2.3 million was indirectly being funnelled into tobacco companies via intermediate funds, slightly contradictory to the research college does into finding a cure for various types of cancer.
The Union released the following statement on the matter “This information, along with comments that accompanied the poll, has been fed into the College Working Group. This has informed a Union stance that focus should be given to increasing provision and awareness of Smoking Cessation schemes and that wider student and staff consultation is needed before any potential smoke-free policy. no decisions have been concluded as of yet.“
