MY OPINION FOR THE MY TURN SECTION OF THE PAPER WAS PUBLISHED TODAY – 12/27/2012!
SEE SCOTTSDALE SECTION OF THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC or see my
submission below – thank you for your support and comments. HAPPY NEW YEAR
PATRICIA
Subject: MY TURN – ASU’S SMOKING BAN one more time – Scottsdale Republic
Is ASU violating our civil liberties? Of course not. (My Turn, Marilyn June Jansen, 12/12/2012) Ms. Jansen is correct in her My Turn about the decision by ASU to protect the students and
the public from both smoking and second hand smoke. I support her view on their taking this necessary drastic measure. She is also correct with her information on the statutes and the law. Where she failed is in the crux of the situation.
What she did not point out is that 175,000 plus people die each year of lung cancer in this country and most of that is due to smoking. Roughly 75,000 of that number is women – or close to twice that of the 40,000 that die of breast cancer. Most do not know that because
breasts are prettier than lungs and marketing sells.
Ms. Jansen was remiss in her not mentioning lung cancer at all – but then lung cancer is not pretty it is scary. With about a 10% survival rate in many cases, lung cancer is usually deadly. It is the least funded of the major cancers. Very little marketing is put on lung cancer – no
walks, no big fundraiser events and certainly no celebrity spokesperson.
I know this because my sister died 14 years ago of lung cancer and the statistics are about the same today. Yes, she was a smoker – and had quit for 12 years before her diagnosis. She smoked in high school and college because it was glamorous, and after that because it was an
addiction. She told me it was harder to quit smoking than to quit drinking – she eventually did both when she began raising children. They were young teenage boys when she died.
We are not turning into a police state here in Arizona when it comes to ASU and the smoking ban. This is a serious and right decision. I was adjunct faculty for many years at ASU and witnessed firsthand the amount of smoking done by students – especially with beautiful
young women. It was heartbreaking. Most of the marketing for cigarettes is directed to young women – some of the most vulnerable in our society.
This ban is the right thing to do. It is to protect the young and the innocent – even if they are of legal age. And a college or university has the right make their campus a safe environment for all of us – student, visitor and faculty. Second hand smoke kills too. At least 20% of those who die of lung cancer never smoked according to the American Lung Association. I support the ASU smoking ban in support of my sister’s memory.
Gifts of Sisterhood is now www.amazon.com as an ebook too – reference: HTTP://amzn.com/B006MLA91Q Kindle edition $3.95 (redone 2012) with additional information about the Journey from Grief to Gratitude workshop and the Stop Smoking Sister Campaign
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