For the last three years, the ASU Health and Counseling Student Action Committee has worked toward making the university a tobacco-free campus to no avail. However, a pivotal decision is on the horizon: The university senate can endorse the long overdue tobacco-free campus policy when it meets on Sept. 17. By approving and recommending this policy to ASU President Michael Crow and Provost Elizabeth Capaldi, the university senate can advance this cause to help reduce student tobacco use and protect all campus patrons from the life-threatening effects of secondhand smoke.
Without a tobacco-free policy, ASU is hardly the “New American University” that it claims to be. As of July 1, 562 other colleges and universities have enacted tobacco-free campus policies. All 10 Maricopa community colleges, A.T. Still University and the Mayo Medical Clinic (ASU’s academic partner) have enacted similar policies. UA is making strides as well; the UA Medical Center recently went smoke-free and students are working to extend this policy to the entire campus. As a university that strives to lead by example and promote public health, ASU should be the first public university in Arizona to pass a tobacco-free campus policy.
Although ASU administration would hardly be pioneering what has become a nationwide trend, a tobacco-free policy will exemplify why ASU is a catalyst for social change because other communities and colleges will undoubtedly follow ASU’s example. As long as smoking continues to be permitted on campus, the health of everyone who steps foot on an ASU campus is at risk, and as long as other forms of tobacco are permitted, ASU is not doing its part to safeguard students from nicotine addiction. The University senate must approve the tobacco-free policy to bring ASU up to speed with other leading institutions.
Justin Zeien
Student
