As the semester comes to a close, we believe it pertinent to evaluate Emory’s tobacco-free policy which took effect three months ago. In this endeavor, we feel that Emory has successfully reached its goal.
The University instituted the policy on Aug. 1, ending the transition period, which began January 2012, during which Emory designated 14 temporary zones for smoking on campus, which started January 2012.
The implementation of the tobacco-free policy was an extensive process. While the University initially intended to launch the first phase of the policy in August 2011, administrators delayed its debut as a result of feedback from students and faculty, who believed that the change was too immediate.
In the interim, the University has offered cessation programs to help people quit smoking. The tobacco-free policy is community-enforced, meaning that students and faculty are expected to approach anybody they see smoking on campus.
Last semester, however, the Tobacco-Free Task Force identified some issues with the tobacco ban, including the fact that people on campus had been smoking in bushes, leaving increasing amounts of cigarette butts on campus grounds. The Emory community determined these issues through online feedback forms on the tobacco-free website as well as observations and discussions with faculty, students and staff.
But now that the transition period is complete, we at the Wheel feel that the ban has been largely successful in achieving its goal. Though people still congregate in certain areas to smoke, the fact that they are “hiding” proves that the ban has been successful. In addition, some students go to Emory Village to smoke because this area is technically not Emory property – also indicating that the Task Force has reached its goal in making Emory property 100-percent tobacco-free.
Based on our observations, in just one semester the number of people who smoke on campus has gone down. There will always be those who disregard the ban, but our perception is that there are fewer people smoking in public on campus.
We believe that the University’s successful initiative results, in part, from the temporary smoking zones. Feedback from the Emory community played a major role in ensuring that the transition to a tobacco-free Emory went smoothly. We hope that a desire to listen to recommendations from the community will continue to play a key role in major University decisions in the future.
The above staff editorial represents the majority opinion of the Wheel’s editorial board.
The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.
