SACKVILLE, N.B. (CUP) — While having to walk off-campus to smoke is a rarity for students at Canadian universities, it’s about to become a reality for those attending Acadia University in Nova Scotia, which announced plans to become a completely tobacco-free environment last Thursday.
At a well-attended student forum on campus smoking policies held one week prior to the announcement, some students expressed concern that banning smoking on campus would be a restriction of freedoms beyond what is necessary to ensure the health of fellow students, staff, and faculty. But the university rejects the idea.
“It’s not [a big restriction of freedom],” said Scott Roberts, senior director of communications and public affairs at Acadia. “You just can’t do it on our campus.”
The measure comes on the heels of the passing of a bill to severely limit smoking in public spaces throughout the province. Under the Smoke-Free Places Act (SFPA), smoking will be banned in all indoor public spaces, workplaces, and at all outdoor eating and drinking establishments in the province.
Acadia will become tobacco-free by July 1, 2006, but they are as yet unsure of how the new policy will be enforced. According to Roberts, details on enforcement and application will come at a later date.
The university will engage in discussions with the student body as well as faculty and staff to come to an agreement which meets both the intentions of the university as well as the wishes and needs of those affected by it.
Acadia is receiving support from the provincial government and its home town of Wolfville for its anti-smoking policy. Wolfville implemented public non-smoking bylaws four years in advance of the provincial legislation, in January 2002. A number of community programs designed to help individuals quit smoking have been invited to the campus and if demand for such programs increases as a result of the program, the university will respond appropriately, said Roberts.
The move toward an entirely non-smoking campus is the latest step in a long trend of post-secondary institutions to attempt to limit tobacco use on campuses.
The University of New Brunswick enforced non-smoking policies in buildings in 1987 and the Memorial University of Newfoundland has done so since 1993. MUN has recently taken the extra step of painting blue lines around buildings to establish a buffer zone for non-smokers. Mount Allison University established non-smoking policies in 2000, and Dalhousie University followed suit in 2003.
The University of King’s College in Halifax is the only remaining university in Atlantic Canada which allows smoking in residence rooms.
