Tobacco & Smoke-free Campus
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Tobacco & Smoke-free Campus Policy (PDF)
Tobacco Violation (PDF)
To the Campus Community:
I write to inform you that IPFW will become a smoke-free and tobacco-free campus effective April 1, 2014. The use of cigarettes, cigars, oral tobacco, electronic cigarettes, and all other tobacco products will be prohibited on campus and other sites controlled, operated, or leased by the university.
Implementing a tobacco-free policy will bring added benefits to the well-being of our entire community. Tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke remain the leading causes of preventable disease and death worldwide. Cigarette butts, which are non-biodegradable, are the most frequently littered item in the country. Cigarette butts and cigarette smoke are toxic and degrade the quality of our air, water, forests, and beaches. It is important to protect our community from these serious health risks and adverse environmental effects.
The most recent Surgeon General report added to the list of harmful effects of cigarettes in that nearly half a million people will die from smoking-related diseases this year. The report released last month adds even more diseases to the previously released list of smoking-caused diseases, including Type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, erectile dysfunction, macular degeneration that can cause blindness, two additional cancers – liver and colorectal – and cleft palate birth defects.
This is the right thing to do at IPFW and many have argued should have been done years ago. Among our sister campuses, Indiana University Bloomington as well as the regional campuses of Purdue and IU have all adopted smoke/tobacco-free policies. Nationwide, more than 1,100 colleges and universities have adopted tobacco-free or smoke-free policies, and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Tobacco-Free College Campus Initiative has urged all campuses to go tobacco-free.
Our students, faculty, and staff deserve a healthy place in which to learn, work, and live, and I look forward to your partnership in advancing the well-being of our campus community.
For information on how to quit smoking or to stop using tobacco products, please contact the IPFW Center for Healthy Living and Wellness at 260-481-5748 or visit the Health and Wellness website.
Sincerely,
Vicky
Implementing a tobacco-free policy will bring added benefits to the well-being of our entire community. Tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke remain the leading causes of preventable disease and death worldwide. Cigarette butts, which are non-biodegradable, are the most frequently littered item in the country. Cigarette butts and cigarette smoke are toxic and degrade the quality of our air, water, forests, and beaches. It is important to protect our community from these serious health risks and adverse environmental effects.
The most recent Surgeon General report added to the list of harmful effects of cigarettes in that nearly half a million people will die from smoking-related diseases this year. The report released last month adds even more diseases to the previously released list of smoking-caused diseases, including Type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, erectile dysfunction, macular degeneration that can cause blindness, two additional cancers – liver and colorectal – and cleft palate birth defects.
This is the right thing to do at IPFW and many have argued should have been done years ago. Among our sister campuses, Indiana University Bloomington as well as the regional campuses of Purdue and IU have all adopted smoke/tobacco-free policies. Nationwide, more than 1,100 colleges and universities have adopted tobacco-free or smoke-free policies, and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Tobacco-Free College Campus Initiative has urged all campuses to go tobacco-free.
Our students, faculty, and staff deserve a healthy place in which to learn, work, and live, and I look forward to your partnership in advancing the well-being of our campus community.
For information on how to quit smoking or to stop using tobacco products, please contact the IPFW Center for Healthy Living and Wellness at 260-481-5748 or visit the Health and Wellness website.
Sincerely,
Vicky