MTSU stubs out campus tobacco

As Middle Tennessee State University continues to position itself for the future and approaches its centennial celebration, it will join about 250 institutions of higher education across the country by declaring itself a tobacco-free campus.

Based on a recommendation by the university’s Environmental Health and Safety Committee, President Sidney A. McPhee recently revised current policy to create a tobacco-free campus, effective Jan. 1, 2012. The new policy will prohibit the use of all forms of tobacco anywhere on campus except in private vehicles.

Numerous reasons support enacting this policy. Most importantly, MTSU is committed to providing a healthy living, working and learning environment for its students, faculty and staff. The new policy will reduce harm from secondhand smoke and provide an atmosphere that encourages tobacco-free lifestyles.

The health risks of tobacco are well-known. The surgeon general’s report in 2006, which recognized that there is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure, was a watershed document for conversations surrounding creation of smoke-free and tobacco-free public spaces.

Tobacco use is the leading cause of premature illness and death, but science also shows the devastating effects of tobacco use can be reversed in time. It is anticipated that a tobacco-free campus will help motivate students and employees to quit using tobacco, potentially adding to the quality and duration of their lives and creating a protected space for non-users to avoid environmental exposure.

Becoming a tobacco-free campus will also add to the overall campus aesthetic. Brand-new buildings, pedestrian walkways and landscaping have enhanced the beauty of the MTSU campus, but the litter of cigarette butts and smokeless tobacco containers often can detract from the campus’ appearance. Creating a tobacco-free campus is one more stride that MTSU is taking to aid in the “greening” of the university that is desired by students and employees.