Readers react to a column by Emily Hogan criticizing WSU’s tobacco and nicotine ban, which went into effect at the beginning of the semester. Hogan argues the ban unnecessarily targets smokeless tobacco products and worsens the stigma against smokers by forcing them to leave campus regularly.

Read the full column here. 

Justin W. Reynolds: “Glare all you want. I would just smoke away from other people if I needed a cigarette. If they really want to discipline me, I would be livid but continue to do it regardless. This nicotine free campus b.s. is ridiculous. Maybe they should not allow smokers to attend WSU if they care that much.”

Marilyn Washabaugh: “As the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

Christa Henley: “When you’re on university-owned property, you are subject to whatever rules and regulations the university deems appropriate. You have the choice to smoke or not. This column claims that addicted students have no choice but to leave class when they can’t satisfy their addiction. If you can’t sit through an hour-long lecture, how do you expect to hold a job? Very few employers will let you take smoke breaks whenever you want.”

Brad Pearce: “This is a wonderful piece. I would have been so infuriated if they banned smoking when I went to school there. Also it’s such an unfair move to the Facilities Services people who clean up after the students and have offices that are not even in heavily trafficked places.”

Dakota Renz: “While it may be hard to enforce during its first year of implementation, you cannot disregard the voice that undergraduate and graduate/professional students as well as WSU employees voiced in 2014 and 2015 on this matter. … It may be a difficult transition and enforcement may be difficult or near impossible, it was however the will of the majority of the WSU community. And as someone who helped lead the project as a tobacco user, I don’t think it’s a terrible idea as a higher education institution to facilitate healthy lifestyle choices.”

Editor’s note: The comments used in reader reactions are selected from public responses to stories on The Daily Evergreen’s Facebook page. The names listed with the comments are those provided as the individual’s identity on Facebook.