It's not official, but minus a couple meetings, a few minor revisions and a Board of Trustees vote, Ball State University has its smoking ban that will go into effect on March 17.
The hitch? It could cost up to $30,000, has little enforcement and allows smoking. That's a lot of money for a limited ban.
The idea is this will be a smoke-free campus. But in reality, we'll most likely have 11 designated areas for smoking, all of which are in main areas people already smoke. Smokers will more or less be banned from smoking while walking between classes, unless they are on the street (which is the state's jurisdiction).
Of course, there will be the six-month get-out-of-jail free period during which smokers will receive "Oops" vouchers for smoking outside of the designated areas.
By the way, Ball State has set aside $20,000 for signs to mark smoking areas.
The proceeds of the $50 fine/fundraiser will go toward smoking cessation classes, health education and "other relevant health and wellness related programs." These programs are important for the people who live and work at Ball State. We want the campus to be a healthy and safe environment. But, hopefully, there will be additional money from other sources than the fines.
The same people who haven't been enforcing the 30-foot rule will be in charge of fining rebellious smokers.
It's not that we want fines, but we haven't heard of anyone being punished for breaking the 30-foot rule. If enforcement isn't strengthened, it's unlikely the fines will be raising a lot of money.
This plan is a compromise, not a ban. Ball State will not be smoke free - it'll be smoke limited. And in that case, we shouldn't market the campus as smoke free. It would be false advertising.
Before the proposal is pushed through and approved by the trustees, it needs to be reconsidered. It's a good plan for limiting the areas people can smoke in, but it's not going to be the end of smoking at Ball State.
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