Tobacco-Free Policy Is a Trend on College Campuses

by Dan

In 2005, there were just 18 smoke-free colleges — now there are 394, according to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation. That number is continuing to grow. Violators could be fined anywhere from $100 to $500.

Once a smoking or tobacco policy is in place, the issue becomes how to enforce it. Here is what Santa Rosa Junior College in California started doing when many students refused to comply with the tobacco-free policy.

Although a community service officer would sometimes issue verbal warnings to students who violated the policy, it wasn’t working. Students started showing up to student senate meetings, complaining about an area on campus where some people were still smoking.

“It was really heavily foot-trafficked, so no matter where you went you had to go through the section,” said Santa Rosa Junior College Student Amanda Swan. “It was causing pretty much everyone to breathe it in.”

In 2008, Swan joined a committee to find a better way to enforce the policy. In 2009, the college adopted the Santa Rosa city ordinance that states there can be no smoking in certain places such as public use areas. The college fell under the public use category and was able to adopt the city ordinance. This gave district police the authority to issue tickets to anyone caught smoking on campus. Swan said that alone has pretty much stopped the compliance problems.

Tags: campus smoking bans, Santa Rosa Junior College, smoking bans