Student Attitudes Towards a Tobacco Free Campus Policy (Survey‪)‬

INTRODUCTION Smoking is considered one of the most preventable causes of disease and death in the U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency has classified secondhand smoke as a Group A carcinogen, a substance known to cause cancer in humans ( EPA, 2009). According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, using policies such as smoke free environments are considered high impact public health interventions. (USDHS, 2006). In 2006, approximately 19.2 percent of college students smoked. Although this is the lowest reported rated in nearly thirty years, the percentage is well above the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2010 goal of reaching a 12 percent adult smoking rate and the National College Health Assessment's Healthy Campus 2010 goals of reducing cigarette smoking by college students to below 10.5 percent (ACHA, 2007). Approximately 50 percent of college smokers may be social smokers which mean they smoke when they are around their peers (Big Tobacco, 2008). Studies have indicated that lifestyle behaviors learned in college may continue throughout their life, so if there is a policy restriction on smoking in the college environment, it may reduce the number of smokers. According to the American NonSmokers Rights Foundation, there are currently 305 U.S. colleges and universities that have a 100 percent smoke free campus (American Nonsmokers, 2009).