The decline in tobacco usage, in particular cigarette smoking, in the United States can be owed to evidence-based public health campaigns spanning nearly half a century.  Declines in usage have also coincided with increasing restrictions on locations deemed acceptable to smoke.  As smoking has been banned in nearly every public indoor space, with the exception of a minority of bars, it has also been banned from the outdoor spaces of different institutional spaces like hospitals, schools, airports, outdoor work environments, etc. The majority of universities in the United States have imposed “smoke-free campus” initiatives on their campuses for in an attempt to protect the health of students. This longitudinal study aimed to identify trends related to the support of a campus-wide tobacco control policy during 

5 years following implementation at a large undergraduate university.  

This study’s sample was composed of students, faculty, and staff from a large university in the Pacific Northwest who responded to surveys concerning their demographics, support for a “smoke-free campus” (cigarettes, vapes, cigars, etc., support for a “tobacco-free campus” (smokeless tobacco included), and past smoking history.  The first survey occurred in 2013 soon after a smoke free campus policy was implemented, and the second was given in 2018.  The study was thus longitudinal across the campus population, but not longitudinal with respect to specific participants.  Chi-square analysis was used to compare the two samples of survey responses, and to determine the presence of any significant differences. 

Results of the study found that tobacco non-users showed similar measures of support for the smoke-free campus initiative after the five years had elapsed, but tobacco users support increased significantly by 11.7% (P<0.0001).  Support for the tobacco-free option grew among both non-users and users (10.6%, 16.7% respectively, p<0.001).  Significantly declines in opposition to tobacco-free policies were seen in student tobacco users, and in faculty/staff groups. 

Takeaway: smoke-free and tobacco-free policies are consistently popular among populations at undergraduate institutions, with tobacco-free initiatives becoming ever more popular despite the lack of secondhand effects seen with smokeless tobacco.  The researchers indicate that this may signal a form of social norm change in attitudes that college populations have towards tobacco-containing products.

Braverman MT, Ceraso M, Sporrer F, Rockler BE. Five-year changes in support for tobacco control policy options among students, faculty and staff at a public university. Preventive Medicine. 2021;142:106359. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106359