Tobacco-free college campuses are institutions that have implemented policies banning the use of tobacco products in all indoor and outdoor areas. The stated aim of these policies is to reduce cigarette smoking among college students and to protect people on campus from secondhand smoke. [1] A banner promoting a smoke-free campus initiative often accompanies these efforts.
While some schools only prohibit smoking, others extend the ban to include all forms of tobacco, cannabis, and similar substances. The specifics of these policies vary, with each institution setting its own level of strictness. Many institutions also offer cessation programs and ongoing support to help students quit using tobacco.
Numerous surveys have indicated that implementing tobacco-free policies reduces students exposure to secondhand smoke on campuses. However, in Fall of 2006 an online survey of 4,160 students from 10 different colleges found that most second hand smoke was experienced by students in restaurants/bars (65%), at home (55%) and in a car (38%), suggesting that on campus bans may be less effective. [2]
In 1990, San Luis Obispo, California, became the first city in the world to completely ban smoking in all public places. In 1998, the State of California banned smoking in all public places statewide. As of April 1, 2020, there are now at least 2,490 campus sites that are 100% smoke-free. Of these, 2,065 are 100% tobacco-free, and 2,097 also prohibit e-cigarette use. [3]
A tobacco-free policy limits or eliminates the use of any tobacco product, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, mini-cigars, hookah, spit tobacco, snus, and other smokeless products. It also often includes innovations in smoke or tobacco products, such as electronic cigarettes. Also, a comprehensive tobacco-free program may also address tobacco sales, marketing, sponsorship and investments. [4]
All of the University of California (UC) campuses went tobacco-free on January 1, 2004.
Some states such as Louisiana have chosen to institute a statewide smoke-free policy for all educational institutions. Other states such as California have issued narrower bans. [5] [6]
Washington State Colleges
There is a total of 17 college campuses across Washington State that institute a 100% tobacco-free campus. The rest are in the process of implementing a 100% tobacco-free policy from a smoke-free or type of tobacco-free policy, or from no policy to 100% tobacco-free policy. These campuses range from community colleges to public and private universities as well. Most schools already have a smoke-free policy and are moving towards a 100% tobacco free-policy. [7]
Florida State Colleges
There is a total of 41 college campuses in Florida that institute a 100% smoke-free college campus. Their policy entails 100% ban on the use of conventional cigarettes. Areas of the policy include the following; campuses, parking lots, college-sponsored off-campus events and campus owned vehicles. Depending on the policy, e-cigarette use may be prohibited.
In May 2018, the Board of Governors voted to make all California Community Colleges tobacco free. A number of California Community Colleges had already made this policy change on their campus or had been working toward the goal of a 100% smoke and tobacco free policy. The rationale of the Board of Governors to pass this included reasons such as: tobacco is responsible for about 1 in 5 deaths, there is no safe level of secondhand smoke, and smoking on campus can lead to secondhand smoke entering buildings via open doors or windows and exposure when walking by a smoker. [6]
In 2016, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed legislation that would have banned smoking on all California State University (CSU) campuses believing that the campuses should make their own individual policies. In April 2017, the CSU Chancellor's office issued an executive order making all CSU campuses smoke and tobacco free. [8]
In recent years, tobacco free campuses has been recognized by the American Cancer Society's Tobacco-free Generation Campus Initiative. In cooperation with the CVS Health Foundation, since its foundation in 2016 the ACS has provided over 97 grants up to $20,000 to colleges across the country. [9]
Many schools are helping students quit using tobacco on campus by providing counseling, online support, and nicotine replacements such as gum, patches, and lozenges. [10] A 2014 survey found that 55% of responding Student Health Center staff asked their patients about their tobacco use at every visit, and 80% offered counseling to students who wished to quit. According to this survey, 54% of health care providers were specifically trained in effective intervention. [11]
Cessation programs that educate, inform, and influence users to quit smoking are often posited as alternative to tobacco bans. A 2005 study found that restriction of tobacco distribution and restriction of smoking within 20 feet of entrances were not as effective as smoking cessation programs in decreasing college students' smoking. [12] When prevention-oriented education was present on college campuses, students were 23% less likely to smoke compared to their peers who were not exposed to this kind of education. [12] [13] On the other hand, a 2015 study found a negative correlation between policy strictness increased and exposure to secondhand smoke, suggesting harsher policies such as tobacco bans may be more effective. [14]
Tobacco policies may be less effective in areas of poverty and in community colleges. In 2014, an observational study performed by numerous tobacco truth organizations indicated areas where progress was more inhibited than others. Data collected indicated only 19% of community colleges in the U.S. had implemented a comprehensive tobacco-free policy and only one-third of historically black colleges. In an effort to improve these low statistics, an effort called the College Initiative Program was Established which created a 5-step program which included 135 institutions to help create successful tobacco-free policies. By 2017, it was found that 87% of the 135 participating colleges had either started or finished in creating successful anti-tobacco/smoking policies. Some have used this to argue that community colleges and poverty-stricken locations simply lack funding and opportunity to develop educational policies and programs. [15] A study published in 2020 has found that social norms, smoking status, second-hand smoke exposure, and socio-demographic factors all play a role in determining the attitudes and behaviors of students, staff and faculty towards smoke-free campuses and in turn can affect the success of tobacco-free campus initiatives. [16]
A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opposite end. Cigarette smoking is the most common method of tobacco consumption. The term cigarette, as commonly used, refers to a tobacco cigarette, but the word is sometimes used to refer to other substances, such as a cannabis cigarette or a herbal cigarette. A cigarette is distinguished from a cigar by its usually smaller size, use of processed leaf, different smoking method, and paper wrapping, which is typically white.
A hookah, IPA: ; also see other names), shisha, or waterpipe is a single- or multi-stemmed instrument for heating or vaporizing and then smoking either tobacco, flavored tobacco, or sometimes cannabis, hashish and opium. The smoke is passed through a water basin—often glass-based—before inhalation.
Smoking cessation, usually called quitting smoking or stopping smoking, is the process of discontinuing tobacco smoking. Tobacco smoke contains nicotine, which is addictive and can cause dependence. As a result, nicotine withdrawal often makes the process of quitting difficult.
Smoking bans, or smoke-free laws, are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in certain spaces. The spaces most commonly affected by smoking bans are indoor workplaces and buildings open to the public such as restaurants, bars, office buildings, schools, retail stores, hospitals, libraries, transport facilities, and government buildings, in addition to public transport vehicles such as aircraft, buses, watercraft, and trains. However, laws may also prohibit smoking in outdoor areas such as parks, beaches, pedestrian plazas, college and hospital campuses, and within a certain distance from the entrance to a building, and in some cases, private vehicles and multi-unit residences.
Passive smoking is the inhalation of tobacco smoke, called passive smoke, secondhand smoke (SHS) or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), by individuals other than the active smoker. It occurs when tobacco smoke diffuses into the surrounding atmosphere as an aerosol pollutant, which leads to its inhalation by nearby bystanders within the same environment. Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke causes many of the same health effects caused by active smoking, although at a lower prevalence due to the reduced concentration of smoke that enters the airway.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is the name of a number of autonomous pressure groups (charities) in the anglosphere that seek to publicize the risks associated with tobacco smoking and campaign for greater restrictions on use and on cigarette and tobacco sales.
Tobacco harm reduction (THR) is a public health strategy to lower the health risks to individuals and wider society associated with using tobacco products. It is an example of the concept of harm reduction, a strategy for dealing with the use of drugs. Tobacco smoking is widely acknowledged as a leading cause of illness and death, and reducing smoking is vital to public health.
Stanton Arnold Glantz is an American professor, author, and tobacco control activist. Glantz is a faculty member at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, where he is a Professor of Medicine (retired) in the Division of Cardiology, the American Legacy Foundation Distinguished Professor of Tobacco Control, and former director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. Glantz's research focused on the health effects of tobacco smoking.
Muʽassel, or maassel, is a tobacco mix containing molasses, vegetable glycerol and various flavourings which is smoked in a hookah, a type of waterpipe. It is also known as "shisha".
Tobacco control is a field of international public health science, policy and practice dedicated to addressing tobacco use and thereby reducing the morbidity and mortality it causes. Since most cigarettes and cigars and hookahs contain/use tobacco, tobacco control also concerns these. E-cigarettes do not contain tobacco itself, but (often) do contain nicotine. Tobacco control is a priority area for the World Health Organization (WHO), through the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. References to a tobacco control movement may have either positive or negative connotations, depending upon the commentator.
Tobacco has a long cultural, economic, and social impact on the United States. Tobacco cultivation in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1610 led to the expansion of British colonialism in the Southern United States. As the demand for Tobacco grew in Europe, further colonization in British America and Tobacco production saw a parallel increase. Tobacco use became normalized in American society and was heavily consumed before and after American independence.
Smoking in China is prevalent, as the People's Republic of China is the world's largest consumer and producer of tobacco. As of 2022, there are around 300 million Chinese smokers, and 2.4 trillion cigarettes are sold there every year, 46% of the world total.
The majority of lifelong smokers begin smoking habits before the age of 24, which makes the college years a critical time for tobacco companies to convince college students to pick up the habit of cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoking in college is seen as a social activity by those who partake in it, and more than half of the students that are users do not consider themselves smokers. This may be because most college students plan to quit smoking by the time that they graduate.
The Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program (MTCP) is an anti-tobacco program run by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health with the goal of decreasing tobacco prevalence in the state of Massachusetts. MTCP has four main components: preventing youth smoking, protecting against second hand smoke, assisting current smokers with quitting, and eliminating tobacco related disparities. Since the program began in, adult smoking rates have declined from 22.6% in 1993 to 16.1% in 2008, allowing Massachusetts the 4th lowest smoking rates in the country.
Smoking in Syria is steadily increasing in popularity amongst the Syrian population, mainly in the forms of cigarettes or narghiles. In Syria, the General Organization of Tobacco manages the growth and exportation of tobacco products. Syrians collectively spend about $600 million per year on tobacco consumption. As of 2010, 20% of women and 60% of men smoke and 98% of the overall population is affected by passive smoking. Narghiles and cigarettes are the two main forms of tobacco consumption. Despite the assumption that smoking, specifically the narghile, is embedded in Syrian culture, this phenomenon has only recently become widespread. Health officials are currently working on smoking cessation programs and policies, to remove this idea that smoking in Syria is an essential part of the culture, to educate regarding health effects, and to prevent citizens from smoking in public places.
Smoking in South Korea has decreased overall for both men and women in the past decades. However, a high prevalence of tobacco use is still observed, especially with the rise of novel tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn tobacco products. There are socioeconomic inequalities in smoking prevalence according to gender, income, education, and occupational class. Advocates call for measures to reduce the smoking rates and address smoking inequalities using a combination of monitoring and tobacco control policies. These measures include significant price hikes, mandatory warning photos on cigarette packs, advertising bans, financial incentives, medical help for quitting, and complete smoking bans in public places.
Smoking in Albania is prevalent as about 40% of Albanians smoke regularly. In Europe, only Turkey has a higher smoking rate than Albania. Albanians annually spend more than €300 million on tobacco products. Zog I of Albania was reported to smoke 200 cigarettes a day. Albania adopted tough anti-smoking laws in 2007, but they are not strictly enforced. Smoking prevalence is increasing, especially among females ages 13 to 15. The smoking rate for teens between the ages of 13 and 15 is currently 15%.
The scientific community in the United States and Europe are primarily concerned with the possible effect of electronic cigarette use on public health. There is concern among public health experts that e-cigarettes could renormalize smoking, weaken measures to control tobacco, and serve as a gateway for smoking among youth. The public health community is divided over whether to support e-cigarettes, because their safety and efficacy for quitting smoking is unclear. Many in the public health community acknowledge the potential for their quitting smoking and decreasing harm benefits, but there remains a concern over their long-term safety and potential for a new era of users to get addicted to nicotine and then tobacco. There is concern among tobacco control academics and advocates that prevalent universal vaping "will bring its own distinct but as yet unknown health risks in the same way tobacco smoking did, as a result of chronic exposure", among other things.
Smoke-Free Multi-Unit Housing refers to a ban on smoking tobacco products in multiple‐unit or multi‐unit housing (MUH) complexes, which are defined as a public or private building, or portion thereof, containing two or more dwelling or other housing units including, but not limited to, a building with live/work units, apartment buildings, condominiums, senior citizen residences, nursing homes, housekeeping room/units, residential or single room occupancy hotels, and other multi-unit residential dwellings, group housing, or boarding facilities. According to recent estimates, within the United States, roughly 80 million residents live in multi-unit housing complexes and more than 1 in 3 renters are exposed to secondhand smoke.
Sajjad Sherally Fazel is a Canadian clinical pharmacist, public health researcher, and the founder of Afya Yako, Tanzania's first online health promotion initiative. Afya Yako impacted thousands of Tanzanians and inspired an online health movement in Tanzania.
