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Bill would ban smoking on college campuses
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU
CARSON CITY -- Smoking would be banned on every state college and university campus in Nevada under a bill that has been proposed in the Legislature.
Assembly Bill 128, by Assemblyman Paul Aizley, D-Las Vegas., a retired UNLV professor, would cover every square inch of every campus in the state, including outdoor areas.
Aizley said the law is needed because existing efforts to push smokers outside have resulted in smoky congregations at building entrances and on sidewalks. Smoking is prohibited inside college and university buildings.
"It seems like the smokers have taken over the outside," said Aizley. "It is not possible to walk on campus without inhaling smoke."
Aizley and several others testified Friday before the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which took no action on the bill.
Representatives of the American Lung Association, the Nevada State Medical Association, the American Heart Association and the Washoe County Health District offered testimony in favor of the bill.
Committee Chairman William Horne, D-Las Vegas, suggested Aizley revise his proposal to leave someplace outside for people to smoke.
"Where in the area would the smokers on campus be able to go to get a cigarette?" Horne asked.
Aizley offered an amendment to ensure the bill wouldn't conflict with the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act. He also said he would consider revisions to accommodate concerns that there be someplace outdoors on campus where smoking is allowed.
Rhone D'Errico, an anti-tobacco activist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said designated outdoor smoking areas "don't work in the long run, there is bleed-over."
Committee members were skeptical, however, with most of the questions aimed at identifying alternative solutions.
"Just put up a no smoking sign," said Assemblyman Mark Sherwood, R-Henderson. "What would happen if we did that?"
Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.
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@mrability
Your comments are rude and unintelligent. Tobacco use is legal in the United States, and your ignorant comments disgust me. Everyone has the right to choose if they smoke or not. Most smokers I know purposefully go out of everyone's way so that they don't smoke close to a group of people. Please don't be ignorant. People who smoke aren't losers, they're people who smoke. The keyword there is people. Don't demonize someone for the choices they make.
EXCEPT TO AN EARLY GRAVE
LOL
make smoke area for the people who want to kill themselves
the middle of the desert seems like a nice place for these low level losers
Great, strip away more of our constitutional rights. We need a "Cigarette smoking" Rosa Parks. Just sit down in the middle of the room, light up and yell, "I ain't going nowhere!"
if you smoke
your a loser,that puts smart peoples health at risk
next time you see a loser smoker report it for assult with a deadly weapon
"Just put up a no smoking sign," said Assemblyman Mark Sherwood, R-Henderson. "What would happen if we did that?"
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Smoking addicts will smoke and dump their butts around the sign, and he can blame state senator Harry Reid for it?
If they wouldn't smoke outside the door, throw their butts on the ground and respect the non-smokers they could smoke in the designated areas.
Smoking, school, student, socialism, they all start with the letter S! Outrage!
Ah yes, funny the issues politicians think are important. What a bunch of jackasses.
Apparently, those who find it okay to allow the smokers to continue polluting every campus entrances are either smokers themselves and/or have zero respect for those around them. I am happy to see this issue addressed, and finally. It is simply DISGUSTING to have to walk through a cloud of fumes just to get to classes. Why should the rest of us who choose not to smoke, be forced to put up with this? If you want to smoke, do it in an enclosed place where YOU and ONLY YOU are forced to inhale the poison. Thank You, Assemblyman Aizley, for proposing this bill.