The Crafton Hills College Health and Wellness Center wants everyone on campus to be able to breathe easier, and a new grant from the Truth Initiative's Tobacco-Free College Program is going to make this possible.
The $20,000 grant will help the Health and Wellness Center promote a smoke-free campus environment, with the center using the money to establish a task force comprised of students and staff; administer a tobacco-use and second-hand smoke knowledge, attitude, and practice survey; support students who are trying to quit smoking; develop a policy recommendation for a 100% tobacco-free campus; and educate the campus community on the harm caused by tobacco products and smoke.
"There is overwhelming evidence showing the negative health effects and economic impact of smoking and the use of tobacco products," Hannah Sandy, Health and Wellness Center coordinator, said. "Many institutions in the U.S. are attempting to reduce smoking rates among students by implementing campus-wide smoke-free policies."
While there are laws making restaurants, bars, and workplaces smoke-free, a majority of local and state laws do not include college campuses, Sandy said. Students may not be aware of the potential for addiction to tobacco, or the "slow but deadly" health problems cigarettes and tobacco products can cause, "so there is a need to protect students, staff, and faculty from exposure to second-hand smoke on college campuses and create an expectation that this learning and working environment be smoke-free."
Sandy said the Health and Wellness Center is excited about the grant and how it will enact change on campus. The wellness center is staffed by a nurse practitioner, two licensed mental health therapists, a post-master's counseling associate, and a mental health trainee, and provides students with mental health counseling and clinical services.