This is getting beyond the vaping discussion, but I'll respond:
even a lot of self-reported smokers wanted it smoke free.
I find it hard to believe that a large part of active smokers would welcome a completely smoke free campus (i.e. without any designated smoking areas at all).
I saw the surveys, and it's true. Conceivably, even people that smoke don't want to walk through other peoples' second-hand smoke, deal with the litter, etc.
One thing we decided early on was that we did NOT want to be the kind of place that shunned or disparaged people for smoking. So the enforcement is pretty lenient. There's no fine or anything, we just leave it up to everyone on campus to remind folks that smoking isn't allowed on campus.
Yup, that does not sound like disparaging / shunning people at all.
I'd submit that it's not, in the way that handing out conduct citations or fines would be.
Using the public to police "gently remind" miscreants of the error of their ways is a stronger deterrent than campus police handing out fines.
Having seen this in play for other issues on campus, I doubt it. But if it really becomes a "stronger deterrent", so much the better.
We decided to leave vaping out of the ban.
Probably for the time being (so that smokers think "I can't smoke but at least I'll be able to vape, so it's not that bad") but I would bet this is going to be changed at a later time.
The vaping issue will be revisited once there's more information. If the studies show that vaping has health concerns, or if it has some other issue, it likely will be banned, or restricted to certain areas.
Wait a second... people reminding others of the law or the rules is not "disparaging or shunning". That logic is the same kind of logic supposedly employed by 'social justice warriors' - you hurt my feelings by reminding me I am not allowed to smoke on campus!
The bottom line is that smoking is a habit that, unfortunately, affects more than just the smoker. Ideally, there would be some sort of compromise whereby smokers would be allowed to smoke in designated smoking areas - because, although it is a choice, some smokers struggle going without a cigarette for an extended period of time.
We used to have designated smoking areas, and they really didn't work. For one thing, the layout of the campus made it hard to find areas that were removed from buildings and common areas that smokers would actually use. And they did very little on the litter issue - people would throw their butts on the ground right next to ash containers.
I agree with you on the second part because the rule as it stands is to eliminate smokers from campus. Sure, they can vape for now but going by experience that option will disappear, as well.
Regarding your first comment: It is a rule - the UNF is free to establish - but not a law. There is a difference. While it does not bar smokers from being a part of UNF (if they remain closeted), it does establish peer pressure to conform to said rule. And classifying that as being lenient is - at least for me - dishonest.
I wrote "law or the rules". It may be a law - the term is loose (including such things as byelaws) - but it's not a statute. It is definitely a rule. Either way, relying on the community to enforce the *rules* is less heavy-handed than using the police (not sure if the UNF police would enforce this *rule* as they are sworn police officers - if they do, then it is reasonably considered a law [still not a statute]).
We use 'peer pressure' to stop people making sexist, homophobic or racist comments in 'polite society'. That's established - when someone says something offensive, people speak up and point out that it's not acceptable behavior. That's not considered disparaging or shunning behavior (unless the reaction is excessive, which is not what we're discussing here).
There are both laws and university rules governing smoking at UNF. The state law on smoking in enclosed areas covers buildings and many covered walkways, for instance. As far as enforcement, I'd think it's more lenient to not issue fines or conduct violations than to issue them.
