Why It Matters

Some reasons for this policy include creating a healthy environment for students and smoking on campus has been a factor in multiple university fires around the nation. From 2011-2015, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated annual average of 4,100 structure fires in dorms, fraternities, and sorority houses. According to the US fire administration, at 29%, the leading cause of fatal fires was smoking. From 2000 to 2015, there was approximately 7 fatalities from fires on campus. In 2014, a discarded cigarette on the second level balcony at the University of Nebraska-Omaha created a dorm fire. This fire displaced 42 students and destroyed their belongings. These students that were displaced had to stay with family, friends, or even a hotel. Though no lives were lost, many valuable items such as laptops, cameras, and school work were lost within the fire. Students were given extended deadlines for exams and assignments.

Public Health Concerns

Besides creating fires on campus, smoking also damages a healthy campus. Secondhand smoke exposure caused more than 7,300 lung cancer deaths each year from 2005-2009 among adult nonsmokers. The most eye opening fact is that since 1964, 2,500,000 people who have never smoked, have died from health problems caused by exposure to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke exposure can cause heart disease, lung cancer, and can increase the risk of having a stroke. If followed, this smoke free policy can legitimately reduce all of these risks associated with smoking. Here at the University of Kentucky we like to keep an environment that is in the safest and healthiest interest for our students.

This image reveals the harm of secondhand smoke. Image (a) represents the lungs of someone who has had low exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke. Image (a) are healthy lungs, what lungs are supposed to look like. Image (b) represents the lungs of someone who has had high exposure to secondhand smoke. The coloration is brighter, and the brighter the yellow color, the worse the damage is. Image (c) represents the lungs of someone who smokes cigarettes on a daily basis. It is clear that secondhand smoke lungs have a similar coloration to that of lungs of heavy smokers. Again, at the University of Kentucky, we do not want our students to be affected by the poor decision of an individual. If our policy is enforced, our students will not have to deal with these risks associated with secondhand smoke. We want the parents of our students to be able to send their beloved son or daughter to a school without having to worry about the risk of lung cancer or heart disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, smoking is the leading cause of preventable death. Six million people die each year from tobacco use. On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers. According to the University of Illinois, about 1,000 Americans die each day from diseases caused by cigarettes. Cigarette smoke contains about 4,00 chemicals, and about 90% of those chemicals stay in your lungs after smoking a cigarette. Nicotine in each cigarette causes the heart to beat faster, the blood vessels to narrow, the flow of blood to slow down, the blood pressure to increase and the body temperature to drop a little.

WHY IT MATTERS

Public Health Concerns

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