Tash Mahnokaren
Staff Writer
Smoking causes one in every five deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In September of 2012, Idaho State University joined many campuses nationwide in becoming a smoke-free campus.
The importance of creating a healthy balance between maintaining a clean environment and being aware of what is released into the air were two large factors in the decision.
The ban, which began as an attempt to curb smoking on campus, harbors hopes of helping the ISU community quit smoking altogether. The administrative body overlooking the ban hopes that it will deter individuals from smoking on campus and also serve as a stepping-stone in encouraging individuals to quit.
“Thank you so much for implementing a smoking ban, I have been trying to quit for years and this will help me start,” read an email to Vice President of Student Affairs Patricia Terrell.
Current implementations of the ban include peer enforcement. Individuals who come across smokers lighting up on campus are encouraged to remind them of the current policies in place regarding smoking and to dispose of their cigarettes properly once they put it out.
“Putting everybody out on the sidewalk isn’t necessarily saying we have a smoke free campus, it’s saying we send everybody to the sidewalk to smoke,” said Tynan O’Neil, an ASISU senator for the Division of Health Sciences. “The initial focus was to get them to stop smoking on campus. Now we need to focus on getting them to stop altogether.”
If caught, violators face the possibility of being cited by Public Safety. While there is no fine associated with this citation, violators will be asked to go to Academic Affairs, where they will be made aware of the policies against smoking.
“I have noticed that it has decreased since I have been asking people to do it,” said O’Neil about practicing peer enforcement for the smoking ban.
Smoking cessation workshops are available through Student Health Services and the ISU Wellness Center.
The Student Health Insurance Plan covers smoking cessation patches for students.
Both Terrell and O’Neil believe that the ban has had success.
“Smoking has decreased since the beginning of the semester,” said O’Neil.
Terrell explains that while there were 20 violations for smoking in the fall semester, there have been none as of yet this year.
“I think it has greatly reduced the amount of smoking on campus,” said Terrell of the ban.
Terrell and O’Neil, while optimistic of the ban’s progress, are also aware that success in keeping up with the ban is a gradual process.
There are many views on the current status of that process.
“I used to see a lot of cigarette butts outside the Rendezvous doors by the Cadet Field, but now I don’t really see any on the ground,” said Brandi Allerdings, an ISU student. “I still see people smoking every day, but I feel that it has definitely reduced.”
“I think we have a little bit more of a way to go this semester with the new students,” said O’Neil.
“We still have people on campus who started here when smoking was accepted,” said Terrell. “In three to four years, we will have students who were never allowed to smoke here, because they started school here after the ban.”
With each semester bringing in an influx of new students, the need to teach and reinforce remains a main focus area for those implementing the smoking ban at ISU.
