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Promote Student Success
Data has shown that students who smoke tobacco are more likely to perform poorly in school. This chart shows that high school students who used an electronic cigarette or cigarettes were more likely to receive 'Mostly D/F' than 'Mostly A' academic grades
Tobacco Product Use Behaviors, by Type of Academic Grades Earned - United States, Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2019
Though some may use nicotine (found in tobacco) to alleviate negative mental health symptoms, nicotine is proven to worsen mental health in the long-term.
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How does this work?
Nicotine blocks receptors in your brain and make it produce dopamine (your brain's happy chemical), so it may feel like it temporarily makes you feel better. In the long-term, your brain becomes dependent on nicotine to produce dopamine and has a difficult time producing it on it's own without nicotine use.
Source: Truth Initiative, https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/emerging-tobacco-products/nicotine-use-and-stress
Eliminate Secondhand Smoke
You may have seen signs posted in public places that state that smoking is not permitted within 20 feet of buildings, but secondhand smoke can travel much further than that...up to 82 feet.
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Secondhand smoke contains 70 cancer-causing chemicals and the Environmental Protection Agency classifies it as a Group A Carcinogen. Pollutants are labeled as Group A when the EPA finds enough evidence to that the pollutant causes cancer in humans (United States Environmental Protection Agency, n.d.).
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Secondhand smoke exposure has been linked to health harms that can affect your brain, lungs, and heart. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
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Read more about it here:
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Secondhand vape from electronic cigarettes contain heavy metals including lead and nickel (American Heart Association, 2022).
Decrease Incentives to Smoke
Studies show that smoke-free environments encourage quitting smoking and prevent youth from starting to smoke (Siegel, et al., 2008). On the other hand, environments that allow smoking can encourage it. By having things such as designated smoking areas and ashtrays/ashcans on campus it communicates that smoking is permitted and even encouraged.
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One study found that implementing a smoke-free policy in a hospital workplace setting reduced self-reported smoking rates from 9.6% to 2.6% (Wheeler, et al., 2007).
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Protect the Environment
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Cigarette butts are the most littered plastic item in California and are harmful to human health and wildlife.
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Click here to view our Tobacco Product Waste 101 flyer to learn more about the environmental impact of tobacco.
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In addition to the impact of tobacco product waste, secondhand smoke has been found to harm plants. The University of California, Berkeley found that "Short-term exposure to smoke (as little as 20 minutes) has been reported to reduce photosynthesis by as much as 50%, as a consequence of both the destruction of chlorophyll, the light-capturing green pigment, and in impeding the movement of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the plant through leaf pores."
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Interrupting photosynthesis results in less plant growth and can affect the taste of fruit or vegetables from a plant (Feldman, 2020). On a college campus, this can negatively impact the biodiversity and air quality on campus.
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Need help quitting?
Great news, you are not alone! Study says that 68% of tobacco users want to quit smoking (CDC).
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There are many great resources out there that can help you in your quitting journey. Some of them are:
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Kick It California - kickitca.org
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Kick It California is a free tobacco cessation program operated by UC San Diego. They offer various services such as one-on-one Quit Coaching, text programs, and self-help materials.​
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California Youth Advocacy Network - cyanonline.org
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California Youth Advocacy Network (CYAN) offers a free Vape and Tobacco Quit Support Guide that is available to everyone for free. View/download them here.​
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Contact Us for additional cessation resources.
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Most importantly, fellow community members can show their support by creating a smoke-free environment. As we have come to know, eliminating spaces to smoke help people who do smoke quit:
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Smoke-free workplaces increase tobacco users' likelihood of quitting (BMJ).
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Smoke-free campus policies reduce current smoking rates among students. (catobaccofreecolleges.org)
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