Cigarette butts near building entrances: what is the impact of smoke-free college campus policies?

Abstract

This study provides some of the first evidence on the impact of 100% tobacco-free outdoor policies on college campuses using an objective and reproducible measure. Such policies likely provide a more healthful environment for students, staff, faculty and visitors.

A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Acceptability and Effectiveness of University Smoke-Free Policies

“…There were 0.6, 1.7, and 2.6 butts per day per building entrance, respectively, at universities with full smoke-free, entrance buffer, and no outdoor policies, respectively, indicating over 4-fold greater number of butts at campuses with no outdoor smoking restrictions compared with smoke-free campuses (p D .04). 35 There appears to be a dose-response relationship.…”

“…18 A companion study at this institution examined smokeless tobacco use, to address concerns that tobacco use might shift to smokeless tobacco, but the prevalence of smokeless tobacco use also decreased from 23.2% at baseline to 15.1%, 14.2%, and 16.4% 1, 2, and 3 years after implementation, respectively (p D .046 at 3 years compared with baseline). 34 The final study examined cigarette butts left near building entrances on 19 college campuses in the United States, 35 which may indirectly indicate SHS exposure to students entering buildings. There were 0.6, 1.7, and 2.6 butts per day per building entrance, respectively, at universities with full smoke-free, entrance buffer, and no outdoor policies, respectively, indicating over 4-fold greater number of butts at campuses with no outdoor smoking restrictions compared with smoke-free campuses (p D .04).…”

Predictors of support among students, faculty and staff for a smoke-free university campus

“…Several recent studies have found smoke-free campus policies to be associated with reductions in campus smoking prevalence, secondhand smoke exposure, and student perceptions of peer smoking prevalence, as well as an increase in social norms favoring smoke-free environments (Lechner et al, 2012;Lee et al, 2013;Seo et al, 2011). However, considerable challenges in policy implementation have also been identified, including enforcement difficulties, displacement of smokers to the outskirts of campus, community relations, and safety concerns, among other issues (Baillie et al, 2009(Baillie et al, , 2011Fennell, 2012;Procter-Scherdtel and Collins, 2013a;Russette et al, 2014).…”

If you see something, swipe towards it

“…Clearly, both are important applications as evident from the studies in [16,13,7]. To quote briefly, millions of dollars are invested by the government and health-care departments to identify smoking regions and measure the effectiveness of anti-smoking ads and campaigns in those regions.…”