CloudedBySmoke
Rrephrased by ChatGPT to reduce redundancy.
The fact that today marks the beginning of the academic year has no influence on my decision to write this now. Unlike my past attempts to establish habits for consistency, I am well aware that I won’t be writing again anytime soon. I’ve struggled with maintaining consistency in anything productive, often feeling that I have a short attention span and find it challenging to sustain efforts for tasks that require consistency. Recognizing this trait, I devised a foolproof plan to keep myself in check. The key was to avoid falling into harmful habits like drinking and smoking, which are quite common. Surprisingly, this approach worked, perhaps due to sheer willpower or smartly leveraging my inherent laziness to avoid falling into addiction.
Resisting temptations, especially under peer pressure on campus, was not easy. I must confess that I occasionally enjoyed participating in drinking circles and passive smoking to be part of social interactions during other’s moments of euphoria. Now, the reason I started writing this post is because of two recent emails. One was from a concerned junior who fears the health risks of passive smoking, and the other was an unusually quick response from the DSW regarding this matter.
However, the reality of substance addiction, including smoking, differs significantly from what is written on paper. I won’t touch upon other narcotics here to keep this short. Tobacco is widely used and highly addictive across various age groups. Quitting smoking is challenging, and not many have a success story to share. It involves enduring withdrawal symptoms, mental and physical pain, only to fall back into the habit during moments of weakness. That’s the harsh reality of smoking. I’ve had many discussions with friends, both smokers and non-smokers, about its social and psychological impact.
The administrative response to the smoking issue has been inadequate. Despite claiming a 100% smoke-free campus, the reality is quite different. Those tasked with enforcing the Smoke-Free law are often smokers themselves and choose to overlook students smoking in their rooms. Smoking has become normalized in society, making strict actions difficult. Increasing scrutiny and imposing fines on students caught smoking might drive smoking underground, leading to more harmful behaviors which include more potent drugs that leaves lesser trace to others.
Moving on to a solution, the first step should be to anonymously collect data on smokers and non-smokers in campus, prioritizing privacy. Acknowledging the significant number of smokers, efforts should be made to provide support. Creating designated smoking areas, while legally challenging, can be beneficial in helping addicts on the path to quitting. Such areas should be well-ventilated and display helpline numbers and success stories of those who quit. Offering a safe space for smokers can promote the idea that help is readily available.
I realize this plan may sound like an Utopian dream, but the current measures are far from perfect and will likely cause more pain and loss in the long run. Instead of witch-hunting smokers, providing support and understanding can lead to more positive outcomes.
The fact that today was the first academic day had nothing to do with me writing this now, and unlike previous attempts to start some habit to work on my consistency, I’m very well aware that I won’t be writing anytime too soon about anything here. I’ve had a hard time being consistent on anything fruitful I’ve felt that I had a concise attention span and had trouble with tasks that required consistent efforts. I’ve realized that this is one of the traits I have to cope with in my life. As soon as I understood it, I made a foolproof plan to keep myself in check. The key was to not slide into any of them, with ill habits, drinking, and smoking being common. Surprisingly It did work, and idk if it’s all just willpower or me intelligently relying on my absolute laziness to start doing something new that kept me sober.
It was not easy resisting the temptations, especially with the peer pressure you face on campus. I have to confess that I did enjoy the drinking circles and the passive smoking just so that I could be part of the conversation and form a social bond at their point of euphoria. Coming to the topic, The reason I started scribbling this post is because of 2 emails that were sent a while back. One from one of my fellow juniors who is terrified of dying from cancer or any other respiratory illness due to passive smoking (which by no doubt is a serious concern), and the reply mail by the DSW, which was unusually fast, more like thunder after lightning compared to the usually awaited rainbow that might or might not show up.
However, beyond the flashing rules on paper, the reality of substance addiction, including smoking, Is quite different. I’m not gonna touch the topic of other narcotics ‘cause I intend to keep this short and not dive into the details. Tobacco is a widely used intoxicant with high usage among almost all age categories. It’s undoubtfully very addictive, and not many share the “GOOD STORY” about quitting smoking. Days mark the calendar enduring hard withdrawal symptoms, even after hurdling through mental and physical pain to again fall back into a moment of weakness. And that is the reality of smoking. I’ve had a fair amount of discussion about smoking, its social and psychological reasons, and its impacts with friends who smoke frequently and those who absolutely despise it.
The admin Has always been lost in smoke when it comes to addressing the smoking issue. The statements I’m about to make in the following sentence might sound blasphemous but read it entirely and let me know your thoughts.
Considering that quitting smoking is treacherous and takes immense willpower, Let’s see what other facts are at play here. After every student’s suicide or whenever something terrible happens, the term SGC always comes up. It stays in discussion for a week or two and then again forgotten of its existence. Last I checked, SGC’s Website has remained unmaintained since 2015. Facilities such as counseling still are considered taboo (I hope the introduction of YourDost App will at least try to bridge the gap). The infrastructure for counseling remains very low to accommodate the student’s needs, and Addicts are repelled away by the social norms that are already there. The effects of tobacco commercials that were a thing pre the 2000s and the forever romanticization of smoking in various mass-consumed media and, to a point, fear of alienation from parents coupled with unexplained “NO” only lead many teens to the habit of smoking. While the people in the first category may smoke without fear in the open, not concerned about what others may think. The latter often keep their pleasure with nicotine a secret. Unknown to even the closest family members leaving them vulnerable to becoming addicted.
The “BAN” on tobacco on campus grounds is no different. The admin has blinded themselves from reality by claiming the campus is 100% smoking-free. Not pointing fingers, but people who are supposed to enforce the Smoke-Free law are also often victims of the habit of smoking and choose to ignore students smoking in their rooms because it is already deep-rooted in society that smoking is something normal. The effort to take strict actions to tackle the problem at hand won’t be an easy solution either. Chances are we will see increased scrutiny in terms of checking inside the campus for smoking, Which might even result in imposing fines on the students that are caught. Such actions will likely force students to continue smoking more in secret (which might initially appear to be a win against passive smoking), leading them to even more hazardous intoxicants that will harm them further.
Stopping abruptly from the long list of issues related to smoking, I’ll move on to the solution that, even though it might sound ridiculous, will positively impact students as a whole.
The first step is to anonymously collect the data from the students, with the highest priority given to privacy, to obtain the demographics of smokers and nonsmokers on the campus. External help can be utilized to collect the same to have more expertise. Open your eyes to the reality that most (I’d be confident that around 70% or more) students are active smokers with different addiction ranges.
Acknowledging that such an amount of students are addicted and their deaddiction is a long journey, the next step should be to ensure support reaches them. For an average hosteller, smoking, inside or outside the campus premises, is illegal. Smoking Laws still exist in Public spaces in India. Often many times, students are fined by the police in their patrol. Sure, the fine might not be as high as the one EXTORTED by the admin. But still advising students to smoke somewhere else is still encouraging them to break the law.
As a solution, efforts must be made by the admin to ensure that a safe space is provided to the Addicts to smoke in a remote space that is ventilated and will not cause discomfort of passive smoking. Some laws might challenge setting up such areas close to educational institutions, but the benefits of having such spaces outweigh the harm, and discussions should be initiated to overcome those legal challenges.
Of the many benefits that we’ll be able to achieve, that includes putting an end to passive smoking having such smoking areas will be crucial to help the addicts on a path to quitting smoking. Often It is at the right moment after the last puff is taken that the regret of smoking reaches the deepest point, and It is at that moment that the majority of smokers feel they should quit. By leading a witchhunt on smokers, the admin will only force the students to cultivate fear and thereby resistance and, in some cases, only results in developing a sense of adventure in breaking the rules.
The smoking area should Display The helpline numbers and experience of those who quit smoking etc., and make the addicts feel that help is not far but as close as it can ever get. The plan might sound like a Utopian dream, and a fairyland come true kinda story. But the alternative measures we were following and are destined to follow are nowhere close to perfect and will cause more pain and loss in the long run.