[media-credit id=2696 align="alignright" width="627"][/media-credit]I started smoking cigarettes a year and a half ago. I can’t remember why, though I suspect it had something to do with looking cool—it was very rebellious and dangerous to smoke cigarettes after you graduated from high school. Quitting a year later was one of the most painful things I’ve ever done.

Confusion surrounded the implementation of the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County smoking bans on January 2, but owners and patrons of local establishments say that the ban has been met with largely positive reactions.

A new scientific study performed by Washington University researchers shows that ventilation systems in indoor venues that allow cigarette smoking do not reduce customers’ exposure to secondhand smoke.

As summer turns to fall, Washington University is continuing to adjust to its smoke-free environment. While many smokers have adjusted to the ban by smoking on Forsyth, Big Bend and other areas off campus, some have been violating the ban in secret.

Despite the campus-wide tobacco ban, people are still smoking cigarettes around Washington University. Students and faculty alike have been slipping through the cracks, smoking on campus with few or no repercussions. Enforcement of the tobacco ban by the University has been severely lacking, and the penalties for smoking on campus are woefully unclear.

On June 22, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (H.R. 1256) into law, thus taking the first faltering steps toward fully monitoring and regulating cigarettes and their purchases. The bill gives the FDA the power to “regulate tobacco products.” This is all well and good, and the act [...]

In light of your open letter to Professor Peter Benson (“A response to Peter Benson,” Oct. 2), we feel that it is necessary to state the position of Controversy n’ Coffee, as a student group dedicated to fostering dialogue in the Wash. U. community.

St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley signed a bill on Friday to put a Washington University-backed smoking ban referendum on the November ballot, following weeks of heated County Council meetings and public debate.

Student Union Senate passed a resolution on Wednesday night to address the administration’s recent initiative to ban smoking on all Washington University campuses, effective July 2010.

I came across an ad in your recent issue for a tobacconist with a store on the Loop. It made me think, why would Student Life accept such an ad?