Smoke-Free Dorms on Campus (page 2)

The three universities chosen to participate in the study were Montana State University at Bozeman, The Ohio State University in Columbus, and the University of Rhode Island in Kingston. The major findings of the study include the following:

• The implementation of smoke-free policies at residence halls imposed little economic burden on the study universities.

• Positive impacts in several key areas include decreased damage to residence hall buildings, fewer fire alarms, fewer incidents of student roommate conflicts, improved student retention, decreased attrition, and improved policy enforcement.

• Campus personnel did not report student and alumni resistance, changes in personnel workloads, or an increased financial burden.

• Administrators reported that increased direct costs, such as the purchase of cigarette receptacles, were outweighed by the benefits of the policy change.

No-smoking policies for dormitories, including for individual rooms, are starting to take hold on campuses across the U.S. By 1999, 27 percent of four-year residential colleges had smoking bans. In the last few years, however, there has been a rapid increase in the number of colleges and universities implementing no-smoking restrictions in dormitories.

Putting campus policies in place to prevent smoking in dorms can have an impact on whether or not college students start or continue smoking. Research shows that almost 40 percent of college smokers either began smoking or became regular smokers after starting college.

“College is a time when students establish a host of lifelong habits,” Gomberg Towvim said. “Having smoke-free campus buildings—including residence halls—can help decrease the chances of occasional smokers becoming regular smokers and launching into a lifetime of addiction,” she said.

Despite these positive developments, millions of college students are still living in campus residence halls where they are exposed to secondhand smoke.

Administrators interviewed noted some negative consequences and costs related to the increase in outdoor smoking, including an increase in cigarette butt litter outside buildings, vandalism near building entries, and cleanup costs. The installation of cigarette receptacles outside buildings and the purchase of cleanup supplies meant increased costs.

“Despite some initial up-front costs associated with implementing a ban, increased student, staff, parent, and alumni satisfaction promise positive long-term economic impacts by increasing the appeal of the university,” Gomberg Towvim said.