COD considers tobacco-free campus policy

Smokers who go to school or teach on College of DuPage campuses will have to get their tobacco fix before heading to class if a smoke-free proposal is approved by the college’s board this spring.

Under a proposal to make school tobacco free, smokers could still use tobacco products in their vehicles on campus grounds, but nowhere else at the school’s facilities, said college spokesman Joe Moore.

A proposed policy is expected to be considered by the school’s board of trustees at its March 15 meeting, Moore said, though the board is not likely to vote on it that night.

“It’s to ensure that the campus is healthy and safe for everyone,” Moore said, adding that administrators are sensitive to the addictive nature of tobacco, and would ramp up efforts to market smoking cessation opportunities.

The law would supplement Illinois laws that ban smoking in public places. Now, smokers at the campus have to be 25 feet away from buildings before lighting a cigarette.

Moore said the new policy would affect “a large number” of people on the campus, but said he did not know exactly how many smokers work or attend the school.

First-year student Jake Schweitzer said he thought the proposed ban would do little to enhance public health.

“Unless someone is like standing next to you inhaling the smoke it’s not going to make any difference,” Schweitzer said after he extinguished a cigarette outside the Student Resource Building this week.

Moore said a survey of students showed the majority would support such a policy, though.

If the proposal is approved, COD would not be the first junior college campus to tighten campus smoking rules. Last fall, McHenry County College in Crystal Lake implemented a tobacco-free policy “to promote a safe, clean and healthy learning environment,” according to its website. Those who violate the policy are issued a $50 citation.

At the College of Lake County in Grayslake, a tobacco policy task force has been meeting this year to determine if a tobacco ban is appropriate for its campus, said college spokeswoman Diane Rarick.

Nationally, at least 258 universities and colleges, including junior colleges, are smoke-free, according to the American Lung Association.

Still, College of DuPage would probably not count as one of these schools if its proposal passes since smoking would be allowed in vehicles on campus, said Lung Association spokesman Mike Townsend.

If the board approves the policy, the tobacco ban would begin in August. COD spokesman Moore said college administrators are still contemplating how the ban would be enforced and how violators would be punished.

“We’re trying to simply ensure that campus is a healthy place to be for all of students, visitors and employees,” Moore said.

The COD board of trustees next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. March 15 at the Student Services Center, 425 Fawell Boulevard in Glen Ellyn.