Colleges receive grants to pursue tobacco-free campuses

Bakersfield College and Reedley College are among 21 colleges and universities in California that have received grants to advocate for, adopt and implement 100 percent smoke- and tobacco-free policies on their campuses.

The support is part of a total of $1.2 million in grants from the CVS Health Foundation, in partnership with the American Cancer Society and Truth Initiative, to help 126 U.S. colleges and universities across the country go 100 percent tobacco-free. Area schools that are not tobacco-free and wish to pursue a new policy are invited to apply for the next round of grants.

Funding will be used to help students, faculty and staff develop and execute strategies that are customized to meet the campuses’ unique needs and move the schools toward a 100 percent smoke- and tobacco-free environment.

“We are at a critical moment in our nation’s efforts to end the epidemic of smoking and tobacco use, and expanding the number of tobacco-free college and university campuses is an important step in our efforts,” said Eileen Howard Boone, President of the CVS Health Foundation. “We’re confident our strategy will drive a significant decline in the number of new college-age smokers, and contribute to the progress being made where a tobacco-free generation in the U.S. seems possible.”

According to a new survey from CVS Health, public support for smoke- and tobaccofree campus policies remains strong. Results released Wednesday revealed that three in four Americans (73 percent) and eight in 10 current U.S. college students (78 percent) indicated their support for policies that prohibit smoking and other tobacco use on college campuses.

According to a public opinion poll conducted by Morning Consult for CVS Health in August, 57 percent of U.S. college students say a tobacco-free campus is important to them when considering applying to or attending a college.

“While we have made great progress driving down the smoking rate to six percent among youth, the prevalence of smoking by young adults is 14.2 percent. Those who attend college have a higher risk of initiating and experimenting with smoking,” said Robin Koval, CEO and President of Truth Initiative, the national public health organization that directs and funds the campaign.

The grants delivered through American Cancer Society and Truth Initiative are part of Be The First, CVS Health’s five-year, $50 million initiative that supports education, tobacco control, and healthy behavior programming with a goal of helping to deliver the nation’s first tobacco-free generation. Of the roughly 20 million college and university students in the U.S., more than 1 million have been projected to die prematurely from cigarette smoking.

“Tobacco is the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States. Cigarette smoking is responsible for approximately 30 percent of all cancer deaths, killing up to half of its users,” said Gary Reedy, CEO of the American Cancer Society, “By partnering with the CVS Health Foundation to create tobacco-free campus environments, we can reduce youth tobacco exposure, prevent students from becoming addicted, and ultimately, reduce the number of people who get sick and die from cancer and other tobacco-related diseases.”

The U.S. Department of Education reports there are approximately 4,700 U.S. colleges and universities, many of which have more than one campus. Yet, only 1,611 campuses are 100-percent smoke- and tobacco-free, according to an Americans for Nonsmokers Rights analysis.