VCU Tobacco Ban: “Bold, But Should Have Been Expected”
Photo by Marius Mellebye / 276ccm via Flickr
RICHMOND, Va. – Tobacco-free advocates and students said they were pleased with Virginia Commonwealth University’s campus-wide ban on tobacco products.
VCU announced Thursday it would prohibit the use of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, by students, staff, faculty and visitors while on university property. The ban begins July 1, the same day Virginia raises the legal smoking age from 18 to 21-years-old.
In a statement, Thomas Briggs, assistant vice president for safety and risk management, said the ban is the first step in fostering a healthier environment for VCU’s community.
“VCU is committed to eliminating known health hazards and promoting healthy habits among students, patients, faculty and staff,” said Briggs. “Our plan is to also provide ongoing education and smoking cessation resources to help our community members make good choices about their health and environment.”
Will Hockaday, an administrator for Tobacco Free Alliance Virginia, said VCU’s ban was bold but should have been expected. According to him, TFAV has been engaging with different university administrations to help design and implement policies like VCU’s.
“There’s a good multitude of those following suit [with] VCU,” Hockaday said. “In just a short number of years, we’re going to have kids going to VCU who have experienced a tobacco-free school.”
According to the Center for Disease Control’s website, smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths per year – more than HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol, car crashes and firearms combined.
VCU’s new policy follows recent trends to restrict students’ access to tobacco across Virginia. In addition to the bill raising the legal smoking age, Gov. Ralph Northam also signed a bill in March prohibiting tobacco products on public school property and events.
Hockaday also said hopes the change will encourage more people to give up tobacco entirely.
“If the winds of change have come for those 18 to 20, it might be the best choice,” Hockaday said. “We do hope this will be a catalyst to curb tobacco use in general.”
Haley Yacavone is a second-year art-direction student at VCU’s Brandcenter and an occasional smoker. She’s glad VCU is taking steps to reduce tobacco use and believes it doesn’t get as much attention in the media as other drugs despite the known health problems it causes.
“I think tobacco is the right kind of drug that we need to be focusing on because it's so easily accessible,” Yacavone said. “Making it harder to get it, especially at a young age, is going to keep you from getting addicted to it and suffering from complications such as cancer, lung infections, and a slew of everything else.”
Yacavone also said the new policy won’t impact her too much but knows some of her classmates won’t like the change.
“I do know a lot of people that smoke at the Brandcenter, and because we're on the edge of campus, they really don't regulate us,” Yacavone said. “The people I do know that smoke definitely would be upset if people tried to say that you couldn't smoke outside Brandcenter.”