3 years later, smoking ban remains difficult to enforce

IU adopted the Tobacco-Free IU initiative almost three years ago in an effort to create a healthier environment for students, faculty and staff. But how far has campus come since students petitioned former IU President Adam Herbert for the policy?

“The campus is certainly not tobacco-free,” Provost and Executive Vice President Karen Hanson said. “There have been attempts to enforce it. There are no clear enforcement mechanisms.”

As one of many universities in the United States with a similar program, the chancellors and provosts of each of IU’s eight campuses have developed a policy for dealing with tobacco use.

While there are no designated smoking areas on campus, there is a provision that says the provost can create exemptions upon request.

The Indiana Memorial Union and the residence halls had exemptions that allowed students, faculty and staff to use tobacco products outside those buildings during the first year of the policy, but Hanson said these exemptions have not been renewed.

The original student initiative, she said, caused students to ask the University to show support and promote a healthy living and working environment.

“It is all about the health of students and faculty and the quality of life for students’ experiences,” IU’s student trustee and graduate student Abbey Stemler said. “Students who come to IU know the decision they will have to make to not be able to smoke on campus.”

IU Health Center officials have seen an increase in students who are attempting to quit smoking, said Cathlene Hardy Hansen, director of the center’s Health and Wellness Education Department.

“There are more students being seen for individual appointments this semester at midterm than we’ve seen all last spring semester,” Hansen said. “The increase of numbers of students seeking help with quitting started to grow in 2008, shortly after the smoke-free initiative began. We have observed a steady increase in participation of the cessation services over time.”

Carrie Lawrence, a tobacco cessation counselor and educator for the health center, said this increase goes back to the smoke-free initiative.

“I think that it is in part due to the smoke-free initiative — research shows a powerful relationship with a tobacco-free policy and cessation efforts,” she said. “The cost of cigarettes increasing and a variety of health concerns also impact students’ decision
to quit.”

Sophomore Logan Paul is skeptical of the initiative’s enforcement.

“There aren’t any penalties for smoking in places one shouldn’t be smoking, and there is no one to enforce it if there was,” he said. “While it has great footwork in the actual initiative, the enforcement of the initiative is lacking.”

Paul said if people are ticketed and the specifics of the initiative are publicized, the implementation of the initiative on campus could be better enforced.

“I shouldn’t have to walk through a cloud of smoke going into most of my classroom buildings,” Paul said. “While it is a personal choice to smoke, secondhand smoke is something that I can’t necessarily control in some situations that affect me. Sometimes I feel like I am a smoker with all the smoke I am taking in.”

But the Bloomington campus is not alone in having a difficult time enforcing the policy,
Hanson said.

“It is an issue on other campuses as well,” she said. “The success of it has been spotty. It takes time to shift a culture. We do see in the communities that begin to regulate the use of tobacco products there are improved health effects. If it is harder to use tobacco, people will use it less.”

Hanson said if people are repeatedly caught smoking and reported, sanctions could be imposed. Violations of the policy should be directed to the various departments, depending on the source of the violation. Students can report violations to the Office of the Dean of Students.

“There are not stipulated penalties,” Hanson said. “Some campuses are keen for a fine system like that with parking violations.”