Idaho State University will become a smoke free campus on Saturday, Sept. 1.
The catalyst for the policy change was a recent survey conducted and designed by Galen Louis, director of ISU’s Public Health Program.
“I think that tobacco is the only substance that, when used as directed, will kill you,” Louis said.
The survey consisted of 314 responses. According to the survey, 60.7 percent of respondents were in favor of ISU becoming completely smoke free.
Additionally, 15.7 percent of respondents were neutral on the topic and 1 percent had no opinion.
“The ball started rolling when ASISU passed a resolution last fall recommending that the campus go smoke free,” said Pat Terrell, vice president of student affairs.
“I think the administration of this campus listens very closely to the wishes of the student body.”
The survey was conducted randomly in order to be as unbiased as possible.
“I feel very confident in these findings. They’re very representative of the actual ISU community,” said Louis, whose area of expertise is surveys. “We’re not stacking the results one way or the other.”
Survey results also indicated that only 8.8 percent of ISU students, faculty and staff smoke on a daily basis. According to Terrell, these survey results support findings of surveys conducted by the Bannock County Health Department in the spring of 2010 and 2011.
Terrell said all smoking containers will be removed from campus.
Though there will be signs stating that ISU is now a non-smoking campus, no additional action will be taken to deter individuals from smoking.
“I think we will implement the policy through peer pressure,” said Terrell.
“No one’s going to be walking around giving people citations or something more serious. What we do hope will happen is that if someone sees [others] smoking that person will let them know that this is a smoke free campus.”
Terrell also said she hopes the policy can help some students kick the habit.
“The research shows that 70 percent of [smokers] say they are trying to quit smoking,” she said, “so perhaps [the policy] will be an impetus for those individuals to follow through if that’s what they want to do.”
Smoking cessation workshops are available free-of-charge for students through the Wellness Center and ISU Health Services. Dates for the workshops will be announced through the Health Services website and are also available by calling 282-2330.
“From a health perspective I think [the policy] is a very positive thing,” said Louis.
“There’s no question about the damaging effects of secondhand smoke.”
Louis also said that he feels the change is in line with ISU’s designation as the state’s health sciences university.
Both Terrell and Louis said they see minimal drawbacks to implementing the policy.
“It comes down to balancing ‘what is the public good?’ versus individual freedom,” Louis said.
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