Submission: Smoking on campus an ongoing issue a year after tobacco-free policy

Today marks the
one-year anniversary of UCLA going tobacco-free. UCLA joined more than 1,000 other colleges
and universities that have adopted clean air policies, well ahead of the
University of California Office of the President requirement that all of the
University of California campuses be tobacco-free by Jan. 1, 2014. This
anniversary gives us an opportunity to reflect on where we are with the policy
and what remains to be done. We are gratified that more than 70,000 students,
staff and faculty as well as the thousands of visitors each year embraced a policy
that means clean air for all.

During the past year, the Tobacco-Free Policy Implementation committee has continued to evaluate the impact of the policy and listen to concerns from individuals. Some of these emails have noted that smoking continues in certain areas on campus, and the resistance of some smokers to comply with the tobacco-free policy. Be assured, we have been meeting with administrators responsible for those buildings and we also have worked with community service officers to assure that those on our campus are aware of the policy. We have continued to evaluate the need for additional signs in areas where “hot spots” have emerged, as evidenced by cigarette litter and direct observation. Intervening with smokers who violate the policy can be challenging and, at times, uncomfortable. However, everyone is entitled to fresh air and we all must be involved if we want to assure that this happens on our campus. UC has created several YouTube videos describing sensitive approaches to this problem that are available at the bottom of the public resources section of UCLA’s tobacco-free policy webpage.

Today is also Earth Day. We purposefully selected this day to draw attention to the fact that cigarette butts are the leading cause of litter in California.

Although the overall number of cigarette butts has decreased since our policy was enacted, there are some areas of campus where the accumulation of cigarette butts is an ongoing issue. Despite the ongoing efforts of our grounds crew, cigarette butt litter continues to accumulate at locations throughout the campus. Even with trash cans in close proximity, cigarette butts are discarded in the gardens and make their way to the ocean through the runoff. The Wellness on Campus committee will be sponsoring a “Move your Butts” litter cleanup on Wednesday so that all Bruins can be involved in this effort.

The UC campus tobacco-free policy also bans the use of e-cigarettes. These battery-operated devices are unregulated products that produce a vapor of aerosolized nicotine. They are not approved as cessation devices and the level of nicotine varies from product to product. One of the reasons that these products were included in the UC policy was the challenge that it would otherwise pose for enforcement. The city of Los Angeles adopted a similar ordinance that prohibits use of e-cigarettes in the same places where use of regular cigarettes are prohibited. E-cigarettes are big business and we have invited two experts to speak to the campus on Tuesday regarding the emerging scientific evidence about these products as well as the data on the multimillion dollar marketing campaign.

This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the first Surgeon General’s report on the risks of smoking to health. Since the 1964 report was published, an estimated 20 million people have died prematurely from smoking. More than 2 million deaths from heart disease and more than 260,000 deaths from lung cancer were caused by exposure to secondhand smoke.

The latest Surgeon General’s report expands the list of diseases and conditions to include liver cancer, colorectal cancer, diabetes, tuberculosis, erectile dysfunction and ectopic pregnancy, among others. The health risks of women who smoke are now equal to those of men. Stroke is now recognized as causally associated with exposure to secondhand smoke. Some of the most gratifying consequences of our policies are the anecdotal reports of Bruins who have quit because of the policy or who have made attempts at quitting. It often takes several attempts before a smoker is able to stay off cigarettes. We hope that the UCLA policy will create a “new normal” of a smoke-free environment.

Sarna is a professor in the UCLA School of Nursing and co-chair of the UCLA Tobacco-Free Task Force. Ong is a professor in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and co-chair of the Tobacco-Free Task Force.