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CUNY puts-out smokers by going Tobacco Free
The City University of New York made a bold move against smokers during a Board of Trustees meeting held late January last year. In early September of this year, all City University of New York campuses will be completely tobacco free. This decision expands upon the tobacco policy enacted Sept. 29, 1994, which is an expansion upon a decision made by the Council of Presidents in 1990. This prohibits smoking in over 90 percent of the campus area including classrooms, auditoriums, elevators, hallways, restrooms and other common areas. This move will effectively make CUNY the largest tobacco free university system in the country.
The policy elicits a complete assault against an array of tobacco products including both the conventional and “e” cigarette, chewing tobacco, cigars, pipes and more. It also prohibits any and all forms of advertising for cigarette and other related products on campus grounds, including student-housing areas and inside vehicles located on CUNY parking zones.
In a letter addressing the presidents of all CUNY colleges, Chancellor Matthew Goldstein announces that the University will help usher in this change and raise awareness of the reform with training, information and various resources along with the assistance of the University Director for Mental Health and Wellness Services, Luis Manzo.
In his note, Goldstein leaves the responsibility of creating individual organizations dedicated to marshaling and carrying out the reforms solely to the presidents of all colleges.
These organizations will be known as Campus Tobacco Policy Implementation Working Groups and will enact the revised tobacco plan through an assortment of organized steps.
“Smoking is a personal choice,” says Oygul Mirzalieva, a senior at Baruch College who is majoring in Psychology. “I’ve been smoking for the last six months. As a non-smoker, students smoking on campus personally never bothered me. I do agree that we should respect each other’s preferences, and if I want to step aside from the Baruch entrance to smoke, I should be able to do so.”
The CUNY website currently has the 2011 Tobacco Policy Work Plan available to those interested in observing how these changes will take place.
The plan elaborates on the working groups and their execution, stating that they will be made up of a diverse group of individuals, including school faculty, student affairs administrators, student-elected representatives, and more. Among the many steps outlined in the plan are the removal of all ashtrays, smoking lounges and tobacco trash receptacles before Sept. 4.
In an open letter to the university community on the CUNY website, it is stated that consideration will be taking toward assisting those who smoke and are interested in quitting, citing ambiguous survey results which state that 70 percent of New York City smokers want to quit.
Encouraging the working groups to take a relatively empathetic approach concerning quitting programs, the plan makes room for “classes, seminars and groups available to those who are interested in reducing or eliminating their tobacco use.”
It can be argued that no expense is being spared for the installment of the reform. With the creation of the new HealthyCUNY website, open letters from both Goldstein and the Tobacco Policy Advisory committee to the community, and the availability of training opportunities on the CUNY website, it can be understood that the University is doing its utmost to ensure that the message gets around. Armed with the statement declaring CUNY as the largest tobacco-free University in the United States, it is easy to look at the city as the herald of a new tobacco-free age for the country.
There exists the possibility, however, that for all of the propaganda being released, the policy may fall on deaf ears.
Section F of the Tobacco Policy Work Plan specifically addresses the measures that will be taken in order to enforce the decision.
It outlines that the plans will distribute ‘reminder cards’ to violators, and, just like the infamous city outdoor smoking ban signed into law last February, it will depend on “campus community members to respectfully ask others to comply and/or report noncompliance.”
Both the complete effectiveness and the implementation of the new measures will likely be heavily scrutinized and evaluated when they are enacted come September this year.
“I didn’t realize we were caught in the middle of some tobacco revolution,” concludes Mirzalieva, “And I can’t really imagine any student trying to stop other students from smoking. I don’t think anybody would want to.”
source: www.tobacco-news.net February 1, 2012
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