On Thursday, Feb. 25, Amherst residents arrived at the Bangs Community Center to debate the town’s recent proposal to change the laws surrounding smoking in Amherst. The proposed law will not allow smoking on any town-owned outdoor property or outside of any restaurants.
Amherst’s health director, in the Feb. 26 issue of the Daily Collegian, stated that this proposal aims to better protect the town workers from the possibly debilitating effects of second-hand smoke. However, many students at the University of Massachusetts, business owners and Amherst residents are beginning to speak out against the proposal. Smokers and non-smokers alike cite a disregard for civil liberties and potential damage to the town’s economy.
UMass student and President of the UMass Cannabis Reform Committee Cory Gillis expressed his concern in the Collegian that this new proposal could adversely affect UMass’s annual “Extravaganja,” which brings bands to the Amherst Common every spring and allows “smokers to revel in good company and partake in herbal recreation very publicly.”
While this new proposal has come as a shock to some Mount Holyoke students and residents of neighboring towns, it is being introduced as an addition to the smoking bylaws which were passed in Amherst in 1999, and later amended in June 2009, which prohibited smoking in bars or restaurants.
“It feels really invasive. People should be able to partake in whatever bad habits they want to. There are plenty of toxins and pollution in the air that does not come from cigarettes, and you can’t do anything. It seems like this is more for show than actual concern for people’s health,” said Saskia Nislow ’12, who is also a native of Amherst.
Elizabeth King ’11 agreed with Nislow. “Sure, it causes second-hand smoke. I hate when I walk by people that are smoking because I don’t want to be subjected to their smoking, but I don’t think the town can do this. It just doesn’t seem like it should be legal.”
Despite the negative reaction in Amherst and beyond, some Mount Holyoke students, especially athletes, believe the new proposal could have a very positive outcome.
“It drives me up the wall having to breathe in other people’s smoke. We all know the facts about smoking, and it will be good to have a healthier environment in Amherst. If you want to smoke, it is your body, but it affects me too,” said varsity soccer and track athlete Courtney Carrier ’12.
The proposal does allow smokers to continue to smoke in any private location in Amherst, but would forbid smoking in any public venue involving employees. Although Amherst health directors have received a great deal of negative feedback from business owners who believe they will lose customers who enjoy smoking, town workers will no longer have to endure constant second-hand smoke if the proposal is accepted, an ongoing concern.
The Amherst Board of Health is still gathering opinions from businesses and groups in Amherst and plans to vote on the proposal this month.
“I certainly empathize with people who are in [locations] that could put them at risk, but I think banning smoking in Amherst may cause more problems,” said Chloe Civin ’13.
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