Letter: It's a two-way street for smokers, nonsmokers

Editor,

In response to the letters to the editor in last week's Daily Lobo regarding "slaves to tobacco," I believe it is important for smokers to stand their ground when it comes to this sensitive issue.

First, let's clarify one single fact: There are two types of students at UNM - smokers and nonsmokers. That being said, the mere fact that nonsmokers repeatedly get self-righteous about the fact that smokers exist makes my temper flare. Why do nonsmokers think it is their right to have clean air in the real world in every situation?

In fact, smokers have just as much of a right to exist and smoke in peace as nonsmokers have the right to fresh air. The plain truth is that smokers are unfairly targeted as a nuisance and in most cases treated as if we were lepers.

Is it not enough regulation that we have been banned from lighting up inside any public building on Earth, except a few bars? That we can no longer sit and enjoy getting cancer with a bunch of other like-minded enthusiasts over a meal? Honestly, what more do you want? Trying to regulate the outdoors is a crock - why don't you just seal yourself off in a bubble with a HEPA filter if you're so concerned?

There are much worse fine particulates in the Albuquerque air than merely tobacco smoke particles. In fact, stepping outside at all is posing a risk to your health due to the inversion layer that forms over the Albuquerque basin most of the year. I understand the health concerns that nonsmokers pose as a justification of their hatred toward smokers - however, it is important to recognize that some of us smokers actually smoke away from entrances to buildings, out of respect for others. If I want to shorten my life by five minutes every time I light up, that is my choice. And when it comes to the open air that exists on campus - outside of buildings - that air cannot and will never be regulated by self-righteous nonsmokers who want to regulate the way other people choose to live their lives, in essence taking away one of the last vestiges of freedom that exists in this country.

So the point is, all smokers are not the same, seething with carcinogens attempting to kill other people. We are not lepers, and we refuse to be treated as if we are a worthless, undesirable faction of society.

If you don't like smoke, don't smoke, and if you don't like smoking, stay away from the smoke. There is no place left to smoke but outside - let us smoke, we'll leave you alone. If you don't like the smoke, then yes, you should have to bypass clouds of smoke, out of respect - it's a two-way street.

Mike Williams

UNM student