What began as a referendum to gauge students’ views on a potential campus-wide smoking ban in 2011 will come to fruition on Jan. 1. At the time, 70 percent of students who voted on the referendum were in favor of a smoke-free campus.

Students raised concerns over the detrimental effects of exposure to second-hand smoke. Those effects, according to Campus Recreation, include “breathing difficulties, eye irritation, headaches and nausea,” among other long-term effects to nonsmokers. 

Just a year later, the Smoke-Free Ad Hoc Committee formed by Chancellor Phyllis Wise issued an online survey, which had a fairly low response rate, to 10 percent of students, faculty and staff: Nearly 50.1 percent of students and 50.6 percent of employees supported a smoke-free campus. To say the least, support for the ban isn’t the strongest, but neither are efforts to help smokers adjust in the new year. 

Smoke-free campuses

According to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, in the United States, more than 1,000 campuses are 100 percent smoke-free. A tobacco-free campus was implemented at the University’s Chicago campus in July. And although this University will soon join those ranks, a smoke-free campus in the Big Ten isn’t anything new.

Both Indiana University and the University of Iowa established smoke-free campuses in 2008, and Purdue University and the University of Michigan later followed suit. Buildings are smoke-free at six other Big Ten universities, while four have had conversations regarding the possibility of a smoke-free campus.  

A 2011 Indiana University study of students at Purdue University and Indiana University at Bloomington found that smoking rates declined after campus-wide smoking bans, and those who still smoked used fewer cigarettes.

The University plans to ban the smoking of tobacco, including e-cigarettes, entirely on campus-owned property, which comprises indoor and outdoor areas and in private vehicles.

But despite some positive outcomes from smoking bans on other campuses, enforcement seems to be the most difficult aspect of the policy.

Enforcement

University officials have cited education and existing disciplinary procedures as the initial plan for enforcement. About 20-50 student ambassadors will be trained to approach smokers prior to implementation to “inform them of the policy, give them a smoke-free policy card and direct them to a smoke-free campus map,” The Daily Illini reported last month. The University Police Department also cited its role in assisting through educating people about the policy.

To further strengthen enforcement efforts, a reporting mechanism will be established so that students and faculty can report violations. Student ambassadors will be responsible for responding to reported violations.

Although tickets and warnings won’t be issued initially if students are smoking on campus, it could be reconsidered when progress of the smoking ban is re-evaluated after three months.

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Renee Romano feels confident that the strategies for enforcement are sufficient and adequate. Romano and Wise have talked to other schools and are well-aware that adjustment periods will be inevitable.

Resources

There’s been little information explaining how the University will help smokers during the initial three-month adjustment period post-Jan. 1. A few efforts have been made by McKinley Health Center, but its efforts do not yet provide the full-scale resources necessary to encourage people to comply with the policy.

Still, for those who do smoke on campus, nicotine replacement will be available at the Quad Shop, Activities and Recreation Center, Student Dining and Residential Programs building. Signs will be posted around campus, maps and brochures will be readily available and designated employee break rooms will be established.

Tobacco-cessation programs will be offered through the McKinley Health Center and the UI Wellness Center. And it’s these programs — not the maps and the signs — that need to be amped up and fleshed out, but so far it doesn’t seem like that’s happening.