Tobacco ban creates new problems at Commonwealth
For those of you wondering how the tobacco ban will be enforced at Commonwealth Stadium, just look at the way it will be enforced on the rest of campus. Essentially, the same problems that have crept up at the hospital and have been predicted to pose an issue on campus have a strong potential to be mirrored at the stadium.
UK Hospital has enforced its tobacco-free ban since Nov. 2008 and still encounters far more violations than should occur. General campus is set to implement the ban Nov. 19, and the enforcement, while becoming a little clearer every day, is still hazy at best.
Policy-wise, the idea remains the same at every venue: to promote smoke free air and help rid campus of cigarette butts gratefully adorning campus. But this still leaves smokers with no place to go.
As for those caught ignoring the ban, employees would be referred to Human Resources, students would be dealt with via the code of conduct and visitors would be asked to leave.
While it’s not the strongest stance, at least there is some method of punishment in place for the tobacco ban.
However, the tobacco ban is difficult to monitor and therefore difficult to enforce. Essentially, smokers will be expected to honor the ban, non-smokers will need to report violations and UK Police will “approach” individuals who violate the ban. See where there could be issues here?
In a Sept. 30 Kernel article, Anthany Beatty, vice president for public safety, said violating the ban is not a criminal offense and police officers will not be involved until the situation escalates to an issue of public safety. But by the time an issue deserves police attention, it could be too late.
Brendan Space, a finance sophomore and smoker, said the ban would not stop him from smoking at the stadium and does not think it will be possible to enforce the ban.
Sporting events crowd thousands of fanatical fans in a small, volatile area, and the mix of high adrenaline, alcohol and intolerance toward the ban could present a problem. Leaving a passionate fan responsible for policing UK’s ban could prove risky.
The silver lining for UK in this situation is the fact the ban will not take effect until the final football game versus Tennessee on Nov. 28. This gives UK a little over a week after the ban is implemented campus to find problems, test out the ban before it is fully implemented next year and prepare to combat non-compliant fans.
With any luck there will be a smoother transition at Commonwealth Stadium than at the UK Hospital, but don’t count on it.
October 5, 2009 Kykernel
