Smoke Free Campus

Over the last four weeks, I've had the unfortunate opportunity to spend copious amounts of time at our local health establishment, Mary Washington Hospital/Medicorp. The organization touts the entire medical campus as "Smoke Free." Peppered throughout the grounds are a plethora of signs that clearly state "No smoking, violators will be subject to fines or prosecuted under VA law...blah blah blah."

Yet everywhere I look, there are both employees and visitors smoking up a storm, tossing butts into either readily available receptacles or more often, just on the ground.

While visiting Florida this past week, my wandering travels took me past Tampa General Hospital. They too tout themselves as a "smoke free medical campus." Someone should have told that too the 350lb female patient, adorned in a hospital gown and id bracelets who was sitting outside, up against the fence, wheezing like a freight train all the while inhaling her cancer stick. My medical tax dollars hard at work.

So where is the enforcement? I noted not a single instance in which either establishments hospital security or staff pointed out the signs or said anything to any of these pathetic tar and nicotine sucking twits.

Nary a word. It's clear that MWH and TGH's no smoking policies are nothing more than paper drills. With zero active enforcement, is it any wonder why it's ignored and smoking flaunted? Why bother to post signs? I expect it's so they can claim some type of high moral ground; beat their chests and proclaim they are working for the health of their communities in some way, shape or form.

They certainly aren't preventing smoking, helping the communities they serve or preventing the subsequent littering that accompanies it.