Walking through campus, students make their way to classes as they pass through nicotine clouds and their shoes crush many of the cigarette butts that align the freshly watered lawn.
This is just one of the everyday scenes that students come across on campus and hope to move away from.
According to California Health and Safety Codes, smoking is one of the main sources of premature death and is why smoking policies are being enforced on campuses, smoke-free or not.
The current smoking policy in California prohibits anyone on campus grounds from smoking within 20 feet of the entrance or the window of a public building.
However, with all the people smoking on campus, people wonder if this California state law is being enforced at all times.
Harold Tyler, director of student development doesn’t think that the smoking policy is what is best for our campus.
“You can walk outside and smoke is in your face,” Tyler said.” It’s one of the major things student’s complain about.”
Although students and faculty are supposed to smoke away from doors and windows, many still fail to follow the policy.
“Back in the early ’90s we had signs all around campus to enforce that students did not smoke near doors,” Tyler said.
Although this campus has never been a “smoke-free” campus, the student body has tried to change its smoking policies.
“Our student government sent a resolution to ban smoking but it doesn’t pass, there are too many people who smoke on campus,” Tyler said.
Some students on campus wonder if the state law is what is best for the campus.
“If people want to smoke that’s fine, it’s their choice, but they should also be conscious and responsible for the consequences like second-hand smoke,” Jennifer Santos, 18, communications major, said.
Another community college that follows the same policy as EC is Los Angeles Harbor College (LAHC.) It allows people on campus to smoke anywhere but where the state forbids.
Unlike EC and LAHC, Santa Monica City College (SMCC) has taken the steps to transition into a smoke free campus.
SMCC gives a warning to those who are in violation of the policy.
“Last year we had no choice but to create designated smoking areas since we were trying to implement a policy,” Brenda Benson, SMCC dean of counseling and retention, said. “Now that the word is out that we are smoke free I think we can consider gradually removing the designated smoking areas.”
Monica Robinson, 39, nursing major, thinks smoke free is the way to be, she said.
“I think that all smokers should have a designated smoking spot,” Robinson said. “Second-hand smoke is proven to be a killer and smoker’s should all stay in one place rather than all over the campus.”
There is still a lot of debate on whether this campus will ever go the smoke free route, but as of now, there is a large amount of students who smoke and a change isn’t seen anywhere in near the future.
“We have students vote and it’s always half and half,” Tyler said. “Half of those feel they have a right to smoke.”