A recent report by the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) shows that at least 65 universities and colleges across Canada have a completely smoke-free policy.
A smoke-free policy applies to the smoking of anything, including cannabis, herbal water pipe smoking, e-cigarettes, and any tobacco product, according to the report. A smoke-free campus also means no designated smoking areas are to be provided on campus, in order to ensure the school is a 100 per cent smoke-free zone.
The CCS has listed a number of benefits to this policy on campus, including a healthier and cleaner environment for students, reducing cost of clean-up, and discouraging the use of tobacco among young people.
Four Canadian universities and colleges that have a smoke-free campus policy are listed on the report as having “model policies.”
Rob Cunningham, the leading policy analyst and tobacco expert at the CCS, said what constitutes a model policy is a comprehensive policy which “applies to the smoking of anything, including the use of vaping products or tobacco products.”
He said he believes that a smoke-free campus will have positive effects on students regarding health, because the campus serves as a motivator for smokers to quit their habits while also protecting other students from second-hand smoke.
“It’s one thing to have a cigarette in between classes. It’s another if you have to go off campus to do so,” Cunningham said.
In light of the soon-to-come legalization of cannabis, Cunningham said the legalization has been a contributor to the acceleration of the trend of having smoke-free campuses.
He said administrators will be forced to respond to this legalization and the easiest way to do so is to create a smoke-free campus for students, as “it makes enforcement easy.”
The number of Canadian universities and colleges that have gone 100 per cent smoke-free has increased since 2003, growing from one campus to over 50 by 2019, according to the report.
Dalhousie University was the first university to go smoke-free in Canada in 2003, banning smoking in any university-owned or leased building, on university property, or in university vehicles, according to its policy.
However, the university said it will provide exceptions to accommodate tobacco use in occasional cultural ceremonies by Indigenous peoples.
McMaster University’s Tobacco and Smoke-Free University Policy was listed as a model policy in the CCS’s report, as it became effective Jan. 1, 2018.
According to McMaster’s policy, its main purpose is to “enable the overall health and well-being of all members of the University Community.”
One of the key purposes that the university states in their policy is to increase awareness about the negative impact smoking has on a person’s health and well-being.
Sahran Saleem, a third-year health science student at the University of Ottawa, said he understands the health aspects of a smoke-free campus and that it will create a cleaner environment for students. But he said some students need an outlet to relieve stress, and this may come in the form of smoking.
“A big part of university is mental health . . . some people need these outlets and use smoking as a medium to relieve their tension and stress,” Saleem said.
Western University is expected to go smoke-free by the new year while two Quebec colleges will go smoke-free on July 1, 2019.
Photo by Nicole Quigley
