Officially, Erasmus University is a smoke-free campus. However, when you look around, it’s likely you will spot people smoking right away. Apparently, a smoke-free campus is not smoker-free. Vaping is very popular, which offers different sweet flavours. Especially the fruity versions seem to be everywhere. “We’re rocking with the mango, right now”, a student at a picknick table in front of the Polak building admits. Another student in the University Library prefers the spicier version, ‘spicy mango’. Others like more mysterious flavours, such as ‘Sienna’, ‘blue’ or ‘purple’.
Not everybody is as enthusiastic about the vaping rage. “I think it’s worse than smoking”, a student says. “Smoking has been around for a long time and I know I can get cancer from it. But from vaping, I don’t know. You might grow another leg in ten years.” Lecturer Etienne Augé thinks the ban is great, but ‘it doesn’t work’. “Because the purpose of the smoker is not to respect the rules, but to be cool and to be free.”
