The Push for Tobacco-Free Campuses

George Leef

Most schools now compel students and personnel who desire to smoke to do so in designated outside areas, but that isn't enough for a group that wants a complete tobacco ban. Inside Higher Ed has the story. This ought to worry the "diversity" advocates. Smokers are a minority group with some distinct cultural traits. If colleges drive smokers away, as the proposed campus-wide bans would tend to do, won't that deprive other students of the opportunity to learn about them and benefit from the perspective they'd bring to class discussions involving personal freedom and trade-offs? Or do those concerns only apply to certain groups and not others?

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