Group discusses possible smoking ban

Campus Council renewed discussions of potential smoking regulations at its meeting Thursday.

Campus Council Vice President Johnathan Pryor, a senior, led conversation of a possible change in the University’s policies regarding a smoking ban. The council passed a resolution in Fall 2009 to ban smoking near residential areas, but the resolution under deliberation Thursday would prohibit smoking across campus. Campus Council’s potential merger with Duke Student Government could allow the legislation to appear as a referendum during a University-wide election.

Pryor said smoking’s harmful effects and inconveniences to people around smokers warranted discussion.

“You can’t set off smoke bombs on the quad, but you can smoke in front of someone’s open window,” Pryor said.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has a campus-wide policy banning smoking within 100 feet of any university building, he noted. There is also a smoking ban at Duke hospitals.

In his presentation, Pryor cited a Healthy Devils survey that found that 71.5 percent of students were in favor of restricting tobacco use near building entrances. He added that roommate surveys through Residence Life and Housing Services largely indicate that “just about nobody wants to live with a roommate who smokes.”

Pryor said a number of options could be considered to change Duke’s tobacco policies. For example, there could be a complete smoking ban or smoking could be restricted to specific areas, he said.

Last year’s Campus Council resolution proposed banning smoking across residential areas on East and West campuses. In a letter to the editor to The Chronicle, Campus Council President Stephen Temple noted that the recommendation last year stemmed from an incident in Edens Quadrangle in which a student suffered an asthmatic reaction to secondhand smoke.