A state-wide ban on tobacco at public university campuses was passed by the Illinois Senate committee on Tuesday. If passed by the Senate, it would ban smoking from all publicly funded universities. This line of legislation is not only an infringement of individual rights, but a decision that we think should be made university by university, not mandated by the state. 

While the overarching reason for the ban seems to be to encourage people to quit smoking, this reasoning maintains little logic. 

According to the American Lung Association, most smokers develop the habit well before reaching 18 years old. Because most students, faculty and staff on college campuses are older than 18, their choice to adopt smoking, or not, has already been made. If the ban’s focus is to stop smokers before they start, it is clear that the wrong age group is being targeted.

There are unquestionably intelligent students who would be deterred from attending state-funded schools because of the ban.

There are current and potential students, faculty and staff who maintain the habit. They should not be made to feel unwelcome at their own school. While we are a state-funded institution, private schools will use a case-by-case method to determine if a smoking ban is appropriate for their campuses. Essentially, the way that the private schools determine if a smoking ban is appropriate for them is the same way that public state-funded institutions should also decide.

In an October editorial, we said that individual freedoms would be infringed upon with a smoking ban — similar to the one passed last year. 

If passed, amendments to the legislation should be implemented. Designated smoking areas should become a presence on campuses like our own, giving those who wish to smoke a place to do so, and those who wish to keep away from secondhand smoke, the ability to do that. 

The line where campus ends and begins will become blurred for smokers. There will be many campus community members fined for their habit, which would be dealt with through the implementation of smoking areas. Removing the right for campus community members to smoke publicly has the potential to foster an asocial community; smokers may be inclined to stay off campus because their habits would not be supported. 

We wholeheartedly support measures that promote health and decrease the likelihood that someone will start smoking , but a statewide ban of tobacco at publicly-funded schools is not the way to do that. It is an overbearing policy that does not factor in the unique qualities of each campus, and legislators should consider the detrimental effects to campus and surrounding communities. 

A ban is not a solution.