Smoke-Free Policy Discussed at the SGA Meeting 11/15/12

Last week, my blog post focused on some of the student opinions of Frostburg’s smoke-free policy. This week, I thought it would be a good idea to follow up on the topic. I attended last night’s SGA meeting where April Baer (FSU’s coordinator of University Wellness) gave a presentation about our smoke-free policy and answered questions from the senators and the other students in attendance.

Ms. Baer's PowerPoint contained information on the effects of tobacco use, the school's policy from its start to its current stage, where it plans to go with the policy, and the expectations of students. Here are some of the points that stood out:

• Tobacco use causes more than 5 million deaths every year (Center for Disease Control)
• It is estimated that 70% of smokers want to stop smoking entirely (Center for Disease Control)
• The number of students cited for drug possession decreased by half from the 2010-2011 term to the 2011-2012 term
• The University System of Maryland has voted for all institutions to go smoke-free by June 2013
• FSU has helped over 9 other institutions of higher learning to adopt smoke-free policies on their campuses
 

These were some of the student comments and questions along with Ms. Baer’s responses (not directly quoted, as I was quickly scribbling these down on paper):

• Many of the smoking policy violators are faculty and staff.

- A large part of this problem has to do with these people not being held accountable. However, they can be referred to a supervisor if they do break the non-smoking rule. They have to follow the rules like everyone else.

• Why can’t there be a designated spot for smokers on campus?

- There is not a lot of room left on campus, it would quickly become filled with cigarette butts, and it would have to be shoveled when it snows. It would require maintenance in general, which costs money, more money than the University wants to spend on a practice that it means to discourage. To go back now and create a place on campus for smokers out of sympathy for their addiction would be counterproductive. The school is having more success in the cessation programs, which is the kind support it aims to provide.

• Having a designated smoking area works at other schools.

- Not really; the entire university system of Maryland is working on making all campuses smoke-free.

• What about the on-campus students who smoke? The campus is their home, and they are being denied the privilege to smoke in their own home.

- There are numerous other restrictions on-campus residents must abide by, anyway.

All in all, April Baer’s responses were polite and honest, but she made it clear that the smoke-free policy is not currently up for debate, and the school’s primary goal is to influence a healthy culture at Frostburg in which all students are involved. This means it is everyone’s job to abide the smoke-free policy and politely request that others do the same.

Is it as easy as it sounds? Have you or will you ask others to put their cigarettes out when they are smoking on campus? Please take this short survey to give your input.