Why UK’s tobacco-free efforts matter

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What were you, your parents or your grandparents doing in 1964? Fifty years ago, the U.S. Surgeon General issued the first Report on Smoking and Health. While the U.S. has enjoyed a 58 percent decline in smoking since 1965, too many Kentuckians still use tobacco. Kentuckians smoke at higher rates than adults in any other state. An astounding 1.2 million Kentucky adults smoke cigarettes, costing Kentuckians over $1.5 billion to treat sick smokers.

UK’s decision to go completely tobacco-free more than four years ago (November 2009) was a bold action toward ending the tobacco epidemic. UK is one of 811 100-percent tobacco-free colleges and universities. As leaders of the Tobacco-free Taskforce, we remind all tobacco users, employees, students, vendors and visitors to please respect others on our campus by adhering to the tobacco-free policy. The goal of the policy is to create a healthy place to live, work and learn.

Use of tobacco of any kind is strictly prohibited everywhere on our campus. Cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, snuff, etc. are not permitted on any university property. E-cigarettes are covered under our policy because they are not an approved method of quitting and they emit chemicals, nicotine and particles into the air.

We remain committed to helping students, employees and sponsored dependents get the help they need to quit using tobacco. We have many convenient options for employees and students interested in quitting. We know that some people just aren’t ready to quit, but want to feel comfortable while on our campus.

The good news is that UK has documented a four-fold increase in attempts to quit tobacco since the policy took effect in November 2009. That means healthier employees, sponsored dependents and students.

Promoting compliance with the tobacco-free policy is a priority. We believe compliance is everyone’s business. We are proud of our Tobacco-free Take Action team. Ambassadors promote compliance and report violators. Since adding ambassadors to the tobacco-free campus effort in April 2012, we have seen a 35 percent reduction in cigarette butts on campus.

To report a violation of the tobacco-free policy, please contact the Take Action ambassadors. The ambassadors investigate all complaints to the report line. Student violators are reported to the Dean of Students and under the Student Code they can receive disciplinary sanctions. Employee violators are reported to their supervisors, with assistance from human resources, and they can receive disciplinary sanctions under Human Resources Policy.

UK is well on its way to reaching the national goals to reduce tobacco use, in large part, due to our tobacco-free campus policy and UK’s state-of-the-art tobacco treatment services. The national goal is to reduce smoking to under 10 percent by 2024 and to make all workplaces smoke-free within five years. Based on research by UK’s Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy, it is predicted that smoking in Kentucky would drop by 32 percent if the General Assembly enacts a comprehensive smoke-free workplace law.

The 50th year anniversary of the first Surgeon General’s Report is a remarkable success story in the U.S. But we cannot claim victory until we can protect all Kentuckians from tobacco’s enormous public health and economic toll.