Ld 468 tf campus bill fact sheet 2 13 1

Ld 468 tf campus bill fact sheet 2 13 1

• 1.
  Smoke-Free College Campuses Healthier Environments lead to a Healthier Workforce It is critical that we prepare the next generation to LD 468 would protect students, faculty become a healthy workforce. Creating smoke-free and visitors from the dangers of environments is an incentive for people to quit, secondhand smoke. protects people from secondhand smoke and promotes a non-smoking culture. Youth ages 18-24 have the highest smoking rates in Maine yet 88% of these youth believe they should be protected from secondhand smoke. 99% of adult smokers began before the age of 26. This is a key demographic to address in the effort to reduce tobacco use in our society. LD 468 aligns college campuses with other state There is no safe level of exposure to funded open areas and all K-12 educational secondhand smoke. Even brief exposure can institutions in ME. Students are accustomed to lead to serious disease and even death. tobacco-free environments. The This bill levels the playing field for all campuses- affording all students/faculty/visitors the same protections and doesn’t create a system where there is a “smoking campus”. Policy change acts as an incentive for people to make quit attempts. Over 70% of people who smoke want to quit. Three other states (Arkansas, Oklahoma, Iowa) have state-wide tobacco-free campus laws and close to over 1,100 campuses across the nation have smoke-free policies. The CDC recommends smoke-free campus policies as an integral way to reduce youth initiation. A smoke-free policy does not require anyone to quit smoking, but simply prohibits use while on campus grounds. Since 75% of students and over 80% of faculty/staff do not smoke, this policy would not require an alteration in habit for the vast majority of people on campus. LD 468 seeks to create smoke-free college campuses within the University of Maine system, all community colleges and the Maine Maritime Academy. Let’s continue to be a leader in protecting people from secondhand smoke and promoting healthy lifestyles. Prepared by the Maine Public Health Association– February, 2013