Editor,
As the flagship university in New Mexico, everyone at UNM needs to think about setting a healthy example. If UNM wants to be the healthiest campus in the state, it must remove tobacco and deadly second-hand smoke. Tobacco causes cancers of the lung and other parts of the body and causes heart disease in smokers and nonsmokers. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in men and women.
Sometimes we reflect on how tobacco was used in the past by men and women; how at one time smoking was allowed indoors, in hospitals and in professors' offices. Pregnant women would smoke. Today, students want to study and exercise outdoors without having to breathe in harmful second-hand smoke.
Consider these questions: Is smoking allowed in your home? Is it OK for the young and the old to be exposed to second-hand smoke anywhere?
Often, UNM has young people, elderly people and asthmatics on campus. Let's work together to protect everyone's health. The Coalition for a UNM Smoke-Free Campus has collected more than 500 signatures in support of a tobacco-free campus.
Prominent elected leaders such as Sen. Hillary Clinton and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee are calling for a national smoke-free policy. Now, it is up to the Board of Regents to take the advice of the Staff Council, of the
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students, and of the public to make all UNM campuses
tobacco-free.
In December, the regents voted to make the Health Sciences Center tobacco-free. They plan to address the Main Campus. The Main Campus wants to be as healthy as the North Campus. The day will come soon. Until then, I will hold my breath.
Juan Fidel Larrañaga
Daily Lobo reader
