Smoking has been the subject of much debate for decades, however with a turn of a new age of information along with a craze for marijuana that is sweeping the youth of Southern California, comes along a new set of ideals.
Along with vaping and tobacco, marijuana has become the third option for those trying to find a smoke after a long, hard day of learning and studying.
Which begs the question; why is it still so shunned upon by campuses across SoCal?
In a survey conducted at Cerritos College, 25 people were asked questions on smoking.
The people asked ranged from students to faculty members, and even Interim Associate Dean at the Student Health and Wellness Center Dr. Hillary Mennella.
“It probably does help some students,” she said, elaborating on the case against marijuana.
“With these things you have to look at them case by case, and think about the source,” she said, further heeding the warning due to possible harmful pesticides used in the growing process.
Students apparently do not seem to mind the dangers, and had an astoundingly positive outlook on the effects of marijuana on campus, save for a few anti-smoking advocates.
“If tobacco smokers have a safe place to smoke, why can’t [marijuana smokers] they do it?” said Dennise Ayala, a medical terminology and forensics major. That despite a warm reception to pot, was vocal about avoiding nicotine.
A surprising result of the survey was the overwhelming dislike for tobacco at 32 percent despite fact that 60 percent of those asked admitted to smoking.
While only a small margin of those asked were admitted vape users, it is common to see someone puffing up large clouds of quickly evaporating smoke usually smelling sweet as per the massive choices for flavor.
“Some campuses have already banned all smoke,” said Dr. Mennella finished off with saying, openly discussing a dislike for smoke.
While it seems like there is still a lot of debate to be had, perhaps a small slice of campus life can give us a clear demonstration of the consensus at Cerritos College.
