Southern Miss students pipe up on ruling

The Food and Drug Administration’s recent nationwide ban on flavored cigarettes has many USM students questioning the government’s judgment.
The ban went into effect at midnight on September 21 and applies to all types of flavored cigarettes, with the exception of menthol cigarettes. The FDA hopes to prevent minors from getting hooked on cigarettes by removing products that they believe target the younger crowd in the market.
Many students have mixed feelings about whether the ban will be effective in accomplishing its goal of keeping minors from smoking. Rachel Ross, a junior graphic communications major from Vicksburg, Miss., said, “I figure if someone’s going to smoke, they’re going to do it regardless. But I don’t support smoking, so it doesn’t hurt me at all to see flavored cigarettes banned.”
Anna Beth Rowe, a freshman from Hattiesburg majoring in microbiology, has similar sentiments. “I agree that something should be done about cigarette’s appeal to minors and the availability of cigarettes to minors,” she said, “but I don’t necessarily see how this will help anything.”Other students feel that the government is overstepping its bounds by banning a specific type of cigarette. “I don’t think the government should have control over what we as citizens smoke,” Rob Miller, a senior speech pathology major from Fairhope, Ala., said.
“A flavored cigarette is no more dangerous than a regular cigarette, so they shouldn’t ban one type and not another.”
Jonathan Nowacki, a junior from Biloxi, Miss., agrees. “As a smoker, I wholeheartedly disagree with the decision to ban flavored cigarettes,” the religion major said.
“Flavored cigarettes present no more threat than other cigarettes.”
“It makes even less sense that they ban them since there’s been so much talk about the legalization of marijuana.”
Some students agree that the ban on specific types of cigarettes is not helpful, but think that other considerations should be taken into account. Zach Mansell, a junior economics major, said, “I don’t think the government should be making that kind of decision for us, but since we’re looking at nationalizing healthcare, I think we should prevent preventable diseases.”
K-J Lockley, a junior entrepreneurship major, considered other factors and formed a considerably different opinion. “I don’t believe that interfering with a major industry is a good idea during a major economic crisis,” the Hattiesburg native said.
Ruth Poe, a junior history and psychology double major from Vicksburg, may have summed up student feelings on the issue best: “It doesn’t really make any sense to me. I don’t really smoke cigarettes at all, but I don’t see the point of banning the flavored ones.”