Smoking on Campus Could be Grounds for Expulsion for Mountaineer Students

Just as I finished writing about the trend of complete smoking bans on college campuses, word came out that West Virginia University has adopted a ban on all tobacco product use on campus, except (of course) at events such as football games. If tobacco use is such a problem, then one wonders why there needs to be an exception for smoking at football games, but as I wrote yesterday, the hypocrisy of this policy is readily evident from the discrepancy between the way tobacco use is treated compared to alcohol use.

According to an article in the Daily Athenaeum: "The policy states that signs will be posted marking non-smoking areas, and any students who violate the policy are subject to 'disciplinary sanctions, up to and including expulsion.'"

This seems like a pretty harsh sanction for placing a wad of chewing tobacco between your cheeks, especially when getting drunk by consuming a case of beer is almost certainly not treated with the same degree of harshness in punishment.

The Rest of the Story

Just two years ago, an undergraduate student at West Virginia University was killed by a fellow student who was driving while intoxicated. The accident occurred on campus, in a University garage. 

Let me just say that in my opinion, the University has a lot more urgent matters to concern itself with in terms of "unhealthy" behaviors occurring on its campus.

It seems like it would be difficult to explain to the parents of this unfortunate victim of drinking on campus that the University has found it to be a priority to stop people from stuffing chewing tobacco in their mouths on campus.