English 101 Argumentation Essay

The new smoke- free policy at Suny Orange has many students outraged. Student smokers are being shunned for their addiction and are now forced to walk to the parking lot during class breaks for their fix. Our society is out casting them, even though it’s still legal, available, and enjoyable for many. However, smoking on campus presents several problems to consider. Smoking is contagious. It spreads like wild fire from one person to the next. Students may find themselves being peer pressured to smoke because it’s ‘’the cool thing to do’’, or ‘’everyone is doing it’’. Especially since our economy is in a recession, many people are stressed out, and vulnerable. A group of people smoking around a non-smoker creates a bad environment for the non- smoker, and they may be influenced into smoking. It’s no mystery that cigarettes are extremely addictive. If a student caves to peer pressure just once, they could become a slave to the habit for the rest of their life. When I left my English 101 class the other day, I witnessed a 9 year old boy skateboarding up to a student who was smoking and the boy asked him if he could have a ‘’cigg’’. The student found him amusing and told him he shouldn’t be smoking but, not before handing him a cigarette. With the ban of smoking on campus, it will greatly reduce these situations from happening. Smokers tend to litter. Seeing a smoker flick a cigarette butt on the floor is an image that is all too familiar. With the amount of people who smoke today, it’s simply bound to cause a mess. A college setting shouldn’t be burdened with a dirty landscape. It’s very uncomfortable to walk to class surrounded by garbage. Also, the littering harms our environment. Birds, fish, flowers, and many critters are at risk. The cigarette butt still contains all the harmful chemicals that are toxic. They aren’t biodegradable so they will build up very rapidly and animals may confuse them for food. In addition, each discarded