Help make no-smoking rule cover entire university

Editor,

UNM is ready to go tobacco-free. Students have voted in favor of a smoke-free campus. The Staff Council passed a resolution for our campus to be a healthier place. The dean's council endorsed the same resolution. Nationwide, more than 65 colleges and universities have gone tobacco-free or smoke-free. Secondhand smoke is a proven threat to health in workplaces, homes, schools, restaurants, theaters and bars. Secondhand smoke kills 38,000 nonsmokers each year in the U.S. and is responsible for more than one million illnesses in children. Exposure to secondhand smoke harms unborn babies, youth, older citizens and students.

Please stop and think. Refuse to tolerate secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke contains known carcinogens, irritants, mutagens, toxins and substances that cause tumors and affects our nervous systems, hearts, lungs and kidneys. The American Cancer Society started a campaign for all college campuses to be smoke-free. UNM has completed the first step. As of Aug. 1, the UNM Health Sciences Center is smoke-free. UNM is moving every day toward a more family-friendly campus. Help protect our families and children from secondhand smoke through a complete policy that targets deadly tobacco.

Juan Larra§aga and Jamal Martin

UNM students