Up in smoke

In the Fall 2009 semester, the Student Government Association opened up conversation about the tobacco policy on the Northern Kentucky University campus, after the University of Kentucky enacted a tobacco-free ban on their campus. This ban outlawed any form of tobacco use, and encouraged other universities to follow suit.
SGA Student Rights Committee Chair Amy Vonhandorf initiated the conversation at NKU, when she approached Health and Wellness Manager Maggie Gough and Ken Ramey, vice president of Administration and Finance. Vonhandorf said she sees how a smoke-free ban can be bad for smokers, but also worries about the non-smokers, because the current policy in place doesn’t protect non-smokers on campus.
“The Students Rights Committee kind of felt like, not only was it a problem for smokers if we went (smoke) free,” Vonhandorf said.  “It’s also a problem currently for non-smokers, because it’s not a good environment if they can’t be around smoke, or don’t want to be around smoke.”

Leading the Way

On  Nov. 19, 2009, to coincide with the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout, the University of Kentucky became 100 percent tobacco-free. Their policy, the first in the state, completely outlawed any form of tobacco on campus - no smoking and no chewing tobacco of any kind.
The reason UK said they chose to go tobacco-free, according to a brochure distributed on  UK’s campus and online, was “With over $1 billion per year spent on treating people who get sick from using tobacco products in Kentucky alone, the use of tobacco products and exposure to secondhand smoke constitutes a significant health hazard, leading to premature death and chronic, debilitating disease. This policy puts students, patients, employees and visitors first by providing a healthy, tobacco-free environment and decreasing exposure to secondhand smoke.”
Before UK’s policy became reality, research, titled, “Secondhand Smoke and Smoke-Free Policy” was performed by the UK’s College of Nursing Tobacco Policy Research Program, in collaboration with the Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services
The findings show that smoke-free laws can protect health, while also not harming businesses.
“On average, there is an immediate 19 percent decline in hospital admissions for heart attacks after implementation of smoke-free laws,” according to the research.
The research also showed that “there was no negative economic impact in Lexington, Kentucky, a tobacco-growing community, after a smoke-free ordinance covering all enclosed buildings open to the public went into effect in April 2004.”
Bellarmine University, in Louisville,  will go tobacco-free in January 2010 and the University of Louisville will go tobacco-free in June 2010.

NKU’s Current Policy

The current policy used by NKU, “NKU Clean Air Act of 2006” is a non-smoking policy that mostly applies to highly populated areas of campus, such  as Norse Commons and University Plaza, while providing smokers the opportunity to smoke in six designated areas on campus: the south entrance of the lower level of Landrum Hall, the north entrance of the Applied Science & Technology Building, the east entrance of the University Center on the ground floor, near the Sun Dial in the University Plaza,the Herman Science Center plaza and the south side of the Albright Health Center.
The policy also allows smokers to smoke at least 30 feet from all entrances, in low populated areas.
NKU tried to improve its current policy by increasing signage, according to Gough. The signs are placed on campus showing the designated areas and the non-smoking areas. People still smoke outside the designated area, proving the failure of NKU’s current policy, according to The Northerner’s article “Not a Smoker’s delight.” The article highlights how, despite having designated areas to smoke, smokers continue to smoke in front of doorways, which violates the NKU’s Clean Air Act.
“The way the policy is written is that it’s a social responsibility for everyone, “ Gough said. “To make sure that either they’re smoking in a designated area if they are smoking, or for those who do not smoke, if they notice someone smoking in a non-designated area to ask them politely to move.”

Updating the Policy

The current policy will most likely not change anytime soon. In order for NKU’s current policy to be updated, or for a new policy to implemented outside there would need to be a committee formed, so that all groups on campus could come together and make an informed decision.
“It’s more a matter of how can we better communicate the current policy,” Gough said of how to improve NKU’s smoking policy.
The SGA Senate hasn’t come to a majority on what they want to promote yet, according to Vonhandorf.
“We do all agree that we want to find healthier solutions for the student body, but it hasn’t really come to a vote,” Vonhandorf said.
The Student Rights Committee of SGA thinks it would be more constructive and cost efficient to better the policy we currently have, according to Vonhandorf, the committee chair
“ In the end, it’s not our (SGA) decision whether we go smoke-free,” Vonhandorf said. “But I feel like we can make suggestions and we can make a stand for the students.”

2 comments

Your name

Fri Jan 15 2010 21:38

Spoken like a true non smoker. Everyone is fine when it comes to banning something they don't care about. The thing is, the more "control" is put on citizens, the more it snowballs. Take the position of the guy in the article. We could try to help make the policy better... IE: Smoke-Free. Designated areas are the best way if one truley wants to be "fair" as opposed to "I'm right because it's not good for you and by the way I don't like it or do it." Now when people are violating the policy and blowing a cloud on you in the stream of people going to class, I get that. The policy is good, just make a mechanism to enforce it as oppose to saying, it's too hard to be fair to bad smokers, so just ban it altogether. If you are a student, don't get blindly put into the granola hugger box. Learn to understand, that the word BAN is a word you don't want this country to throw around even if you think it's a good idea personally. Our freedom is the only thing that makes us relevant.

Your name

Fri Jan 15 2010 12:59

I would love a smoking ban!

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