Spring Break
Anti-smoking group campaigns on St. Pat's
Columbia organization uses Five Points celebration to push agenda
Jon Turner
News Editor
Issue date: 3/21/05 Section: News
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"If Ireland went smoke-free, why don't we?" asked Smoke-Free Columbia advertisements at Saturday's St. Pat's in Five Points party.
Smoke-Free Columbia, a branch of the S.C. Tobacco Collaborative, advocates banning smoking from Columbia bars and restaurants.
At the party, the group distributed Koozies with an anti-smoking message derived from a USC study that "62 percent of city residents say they'd go out to eat more often if the restaurants were smoke-free."
Last year Marcos Gardner directed a three-week USC program to help "high-risk" smokers quit the habit. He said then that about 27 to 28 percent of USC students were smokers.
The College of Charleston's Student Government Association last year debated a bill to divide its campus into smoking and nonsmoking areas, banning the practice from places like residence halls and dining areas.
In 2002, USC's Residence Hall Association passed legislation to ban smoking within 25 feet of residence halls. The policy was adopted by University Housing, but has been widely ignored by students, many of whom regularly smoke on porches or balconies.
First-year psychology student Daniel Balint, a member of the Thefacebook.com group, "Smoking May Kill Me, But At Least I'll Die Happy," said he had picked up his habit before coming to USC.
"I've probably been smoking since, I'd say, about halfway through my ninth grade year," he said.
Balint said that although he and most other USC smokers are aware of USC Housing's residence hall smoking restrictions, many tend to ignore the policy.
"As long as you're not in the building, and nobody complains about it, nobody really cares," he said.
Balint said he had been cutting down on his cigarette smoking, limiting himself to a pack every two days. "Yeah, that actually is me cutting down," he said. "Earlier in the semester I got up to a pack a day. Then I cut back."
Although an avid smoker, Balint said he could manage to live with a ban on smoking in restaurants and bars.
"That would really suck, but I guess I could get over it. I've never had a problem waiting to have a cigarette before," he said.
The state of California has banned smoking in bars and restaurants since 1998. So have several cities around the country, including New York. Smoking has become increasingly regulated around the world, with Ireland, Italy and Cuba setting restrictions during the last year.