I got the BEST e-mail from UNT yesterday...
Looks like University of North Texas will be smoke-free beginning January, 2013! Apparently, over 700 colleges and universities across the nation are following the smoke-free program.
As an asthmatic, this is the best news I have heard in a long time! I have been hoping that it would be made illegal for a very long time. I know that cigarettes may never be taken off the shelf in my lifetime, but I can see that the thought is in the works.
Funny story... my first couple of months in Texas, I went out to Applebees with some friends. My hound-dog nose skills sniffed out smoke while I was looking over the menu. I looked around, very annoyed, until I spotted the perpetrator - the guy at the table right behind me. I turned to him, glared into his eyes, and said, "Um, exCUse me... you can't SMOKE in here!" All of my friends, obviously mortified, told me that yes, in fact, he could smoke inside the restaurant. I can hardly remember a time in Oregon when we were greeted at the hostess podium with the option: smoking or non-smoking. Smoking was banned in restaurants, bars, parks, and a couple of years ago, tobacco (cigarettes and chewing tobacco) was starting to be banned at the workplace.
It's great to see that Texas is starting to make those changes. I love the billboards around town giving the number of cities that are smoke-free. I also think the billboards showing the picture of the baby and the waitress and the slogan "Not everyone can avoid smoke" are pretty powerful. I am still so baffled as to why my generation smokes - we know that it's deadly, not only for the smokers, but for the people around, inhaling the second-hand smoke.
I've been in numerous situations where I was around smokers and couldn't get away - in the car on a 3 hour each way road trip, in a home, sitting in my car at a red light, and walking across campus. Each time, I have an asthma attack and have to use my inhaler. On the days I forget my inhaler, or it runs out, I feel like I am going to die. I can't wait for that feeling to go away. I am so excited that UNT is taking the initiative to make the campus greener, safer and healthier. Thank you, President Rawlins.
**Sorry if this post offended anyone. Smoking is a VERY sore subject for me.
